Truth Be Told
by Cster
Summary: Includes everyone, a little OOC in my opinion. Kyle and Cartman develop a friendship after Kyle gets sick, will more develop? Will reference some episodes but only those I feel add to the story. Fully edited.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I already feel a wave of judgment coming but I'll start with this. I have never written anything like this before and as I am a heterosexual female I have no idea how accurate a lot of what I will write on here is. Be that as it may, this has been my favorite pairing for quite some time, so I'm going to go for it. Kyman FTW. Warnings: Yes, everyone is at least 16 who will be involved in anything remotely sexual. Homosexual relations abound. If this creeps you out, you're probably reading the wrong story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and nobody. :/

Cartman sighed inwardly as he trudged home from school alone. He normally took the bus but his detention for being late (again) and his stupid forgetful mother coupled together had resulted in the 17 year old walking home. 'I do have a car damn it!'

He had been late for school for the simple reason he had hit the snooze button on his alarm yet again. 'Mornings suck.'

Unfortunately, his car wasn't working at the moment. 'Just my luck' he thought irritably as his brown eyes met the now grayish colored sky above. 'Great now it's about to fucking rain. This day couldn't get much worse.'

Meanwhile, Kyle was sitting at home, books spread out all across the table in his kitchen, attempting to do some of his massive stack of homework. He'd been home sick quite a lot from school lately and that mixed with his advanced classes didn't make for a light workload. "Ugh", he rubbed his aching head yet again as he stood up to go get yet another aspirin and glass of water. He suddenly felt really dizzy and before he could make it to his chair, fell spread eagle on the floor. Kyle blinked, sitting up, 'what the hell is going on with me lately?' He stood up, brushing himself off and realized his heart was pounding at twice its normal pace. 'What if I am getting sick again?' Not minor sick but like-no he wouldn't worry about it until he had to. It wasn't in Kyle's nature to ignore the obvious, but when he was genuinely terrified, logic tended to take a backseat. He decided to get up again, while being very careful and taking it slowly, to get the aspirin he had planned to earlier.

Besides, no one knew about his episodes as of late not Stan, not Ike, not even his mother, though she was becoming suspicious as of late. Food poisoning or a fever were only believable excuses for so long. Somehow he had managed not to have any of these health issues at school, but the spells were getting more frequent and he feared it was only a matter of time before someone found out.

Cartman groaned audibly as the huge icy hail slapped the sides of his unprotected face. "Goddamn it," he cursed aloud as he attempted to cover his face with his hat and failed miserably. He could barely see and though he was walking on the sidewalk, decided he would stop at the first person's house he got to considering that now it was lightning and even someone as cool as him knew lightning could kill you quite quickly and easily. He figured he was long past the Jew's house and gauged Kenny's to be the next house on the right. Cartman ran to the door and rang the doorbell, almost desperately. Almost because Eric Cartman doesn't do anything desperately. It was this attitude that had protected him for years; that and teaching himself to have basically an ice cold heart. The less people you let get close to you the better. He decided he would never change. EVER. The closest people to him were probably his mom and Kenny which wasn't saying much; his mom was generally gone doing whatever she did or pampering him. He knew enough to know he didn't want to know anymore than he did already about his mother's business. And Kenny was decent company, but it was easy not to get too close to him because he was always dying, hard to understand, and generally obsessed with chicks.

Needless to say, both the Jew and the fatass were equally shell shocked at who was on the opposite side of the door as it opened.

"Fatass?!" The Jew stared at him incredulously. "Ha, wrong house", Cartman said as he moved to slam the door straight in Kyle's face without another word. Just then, a huge boom of thunder and a bright flash of lighting lit up the entire South Park sky and caused both of the guys to jump. Kyle smirked, an expression Cartman hated, "You sure about that?"

"Ugh, fine fuck you Jew," he said after he walked inside, throwing his soaking jacket, hat, and schoolbooks on the couch as he entered. He glanced at the table where Kyle had all his books out. "Why are you doing schoolwork now? We just got out of school an hour ago."

Kyle sighed exasperatedly. "You're lucky my mom's not home. She wouldn't appreciate you propping your nasty wet belongings on her furniture." He chose to ignore the dig at his attempt to stay on top of his schoolwork, while cursing himself for being too kindhearted to leave Cartman outside in the storm.

"Oh really? Like I could care less what that bitch has to say." He propped his dirty soaking commando boots on Kyle's family's living room table.

"Damn it Cartman! Can you at least pretend to have some goddamn respect?!" He yelled, then with a sharp pain to the head Kyle was falling towards the floor.

Cartman couldn't react and just stared blankly as the other fell to the floor.

"What the fuck Jew." He said even though the redhead's eyes were closed, he instantly assumed he was faking. 'You've never been one to run away or back down from our fights before.'

He nudged him roughly with his boot. However, Cartman felt an icy feeling wash over him once he realized he didn't appear to be breathing and his head was tilted at a sickening angle. Swallowing the bile in his throat, he moved to a kneeling position by Kyle and placed two fingers to the other boy's neck, not really knowing what he was doing. He felt nothing. Swallowing hard again, he leaned his ear against Kyle's chest and listened for two seconds that felt like forever, finally hearing his heart beating although slowly and faintly. Right as he was going to call 911, Kyle's green eyes opened as he gasped for air; he never thought he would be so joyful his friend was alive. Whew, apparently he just sucked at trying to find someone's pulse.

"Ow," Kyle rubbed a fresh bruise under his elbow, falling on wooden floors was never fun. "Why the hell did you push me Cartman?" At this accusation, Cartman was tempted to leave, considering how worried he had been for the redhead just moments before. 'Wait, hold up, rewind, motherfucking pause. Worried? Over Kyle? He wracked his brain for another word. Nope, there wasn't one', Cartman admitted begrudgingly to himself. He finally decided it was fine to worry very little, not in a sissy way, over a friend (right?) that'd you'd known nearly 13 years if you thought he was dead. But only because you've known him so long and you're used to being the one hurting him. 'Yeah, only I can kill him.' Cartman thought to himself, not really liking the thought, but dismissing his emotions abruptly.

"I didn't push you Kyle, you um fell." Cartman was looking in Kyle's direction but his brown eyes refused to meet Kyle's green ones. Kyle rolled his eyes, "Nice try you idiot." The he realized that Cartman's eyes had held an almost worried look before they had turned icy and careless. "Wait, what happened?" Kyle was scared and embarrassed now. 'Please no, God no, did I just pass out in front of Cartman?'

Kyle moved to stand up. "Easy, Jew." Cartman said barely keeping his voice from shaking as he helped the thinner boy to the couch. He had his arm gently around him just in case he lost his balance. "Cartman, knock it off, I'm fine." Kyle shoved him off lightly causing him to almost lose his own footing. Cartman grabbed him around the waist more firmly, picked him up bridal style, and placed him securely on the couch. Before he released his arms from around Kyle, he realized how close he was to Kyle's face. He could count every single hue in his multifaceted green eyes. 'They really were like emeralds'; he noted as he leaned back resuming a standing position.

'I'm not fucking gay. I'm just worried about not having someone to rag on all the time.' Cartman thought to himself. Kyle looked incensed. "Tell me what the hell is going on. Why are you being so helpful?."

"Well, I wouldn't be acting weird if you hadn't almost stopped breathing!" Cartman burst out.

Kyle didn't say a word. "That's right", Cartman continued on a roll, "You were yelling at me, passed out and I, well I thought you were dead." Kyle's face paled. "But you weren't, unfortunately." Cartman didn't mean that part but he figured he would add it to try not to seem too concerned.

"Cartman, you're a fucking piece of work you know. Anyway, please, don't tell anyone. You have to swear not to tell a soul." He hated asking Cartman for anything or even saying please to him, but he could NOT have his family or Stan find out. Though he might pay for it later, Kyle couldn't help but be a little touched though that Cartman had been concerned.

"About what?" Cartman batted those devilishly handsome brown eyes feigning innocence.

"Just please Cartman," Kyle said he was still tired and weak from passing out but he had to try to get Cartman to keep his secret.

"Well?" Kyle pressed.

"Only if you agree to be my slave," Cartman said, "it can be just like in the 40s." he alluded tactlessly.

"As much as I want to kick you out right now, how about you stay and in exchange you don't say a word about what happened today?." Kyle said simply. He tried to stay cool and collected even though the argument/discussion was taking a lot out of him. 'Psh every discussion with Cartman is practically an argument anyway I walked right into that one.'

Cartman called his bluff, "Me and you both know you won't send me out in that godforsaken weather Jew. But since getting struck by lightning isn't high on priority list, I'll take it. I have a few more conditions I require. Here's the terms of my agreement", he continued, ignoring Kyle's irritation. "You have to do whatever I say for an indefinite amount of time, includes literally fucking anything and I won't tell anybody about your little illness. What's wrong with you anyway?" Cartman added on to make it seem like an afterthought but was uncharacteristically concerned.

"I don't know." Kyle said quietly. "It all started about a month ago but I've never passed out for that long."

"Go see a doctor Kyle. I'm serious."

Kyle opened his mouth to protest but Cartman merely spoke over him, "According to the terms of our agreement you have to call tomorrow and make an appointment because I said so or I'll blab your business all over the whole damn school."

Kyle was defeated, temporarily that is. "Okay whatever." He'd figure out a way around this eventually; he was Kyle Broflovski, that's what he did. He glanced at the time 5:30 pm. "Where is my mom? She should have been back already." Kyle shakily stands to go get the phone but Cartman gently pushes him back down, "I'll go get it," he says in a sing song mocking kind of way. 'God he's an annoying idiot' Kyle thought as he waltzed out of the room, 'but quite honestly not a bad looking one.'

'Damn my illness must really be getting to me,' he thought miserably. Thinking anything positive about Cartman? Ha, when pigs fly. Besides, Kyle wasn't gay he just had no interest in dating period. And that was that. Grades had always come first to him, before his health, before his enjoyment, actually only after his super best friend Stan and his beloved little brother. Although, Kyle thought, Cartman had grown into his build.

He was still nowhere near "buff" as he claimed to be, but his height had made his 250 pounds look stocky and strong, plus it was rumored he hit the gym a couple of times a week. The biggest change overall though to Kyle had been his attitude and hair.

After a particularly nasty argument a few months ago, he had all but quit the Holocaust jokes and hero worship of Hitler something about it being uncool or making him look lame. The argument had resulted in Kyle and Cartman insulting each other, which wasn't anything new, but for some reason it hurt Kyle more deeply that time and he had broken down and cried in front of Cartman after breaking his nose. Though Cartman had always claimed making Kyle cry would be the best thing ever for some reason this time was different. Cartman didn't apologize in so many words all things considering, but he had changed his tune at school the next day and had yet to go back to his old ways.

'Or whatever the fuck. It was Cartman he didn't need a reason and if he did it was a bullshit reason.' Obviously he still called Kyle Jew more than he did his name and did make anti-Semitic comments, but Kyle guessed it was more of a force of habit than anything else.

He now grew his soft (looking) Kyle mentally added 'it wasn't like he went around touching Cartman's hair or any shit like that,' brown hair grew to just above shoulder length which shaped his face well but didn't make him look too mature. He also grew no facial hair whatsoever, but it didn't make him look childish just fresh faced and handsome.

'Wow I just spent 5 whole minutes thinking about your rival's physical appearance and called him handsome but you're not gay, whatsoever.' He mocked himself.

"Damn thing was practically hidden under some stupid papers, I threw them all on the damn floor." Cartman tossed the cell phone to Kyle who quickly dialed his mom's number as Cartman silently mocked Kyle's supposedly prissy phone calling etiquette.

"Oh Kyle Bubbie, I was worried sick that you hadn't gotten home the weather is simply awful isn't it? Don't you dare even think of going anywhere young man do you understand me?!" She screeched into the phone. Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yes mom don't worry about me. Have you talked to dad yet?"

"Yes Kyle for God's sakes he and Ike ended up going to Filmore's house for Ike to work on a project and are staying the night there. I'm at Sharon's since we were sewing when it hit. I'm assuming you're alone over there? There better not be any girls over there."

"Actually mom uhhhh Eric Cartman is here." He really hadn't wanted to tell her that, but decided honesty was best.

"What what what?" She shouted in a deadening manner so loudly that Cartman heard her and promptly flipped the bird, whispering the word bitch close to the receiver. He then flipped out his phone to play some childish game, probably candy crush or something.

"Yes mom he came over to get out of the weather and will probably be spending the night."

Cartman raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Kyle hung up momentarily.

"That bitch," he grinned, "What'd she want? Am I kicked out?" His expression had changed a bit more.

"Nope you can stay."

"Kay. Very weird for her to agree to let me stay though, even considering the weather," he said as more lightning and thunder hit nearly rattling the frame of the house.

"Whatever, I'm exhausted I'm going to sleep. You can leave if you want but you're welcome to stay though I probably don't have any clothes that will fit you.

"Calling me fat are you Kyle?!" Cartman looked pissed.

"No for once I'm actually not. Look at our height difference and how scrawny I am, now shut up."

Cartman smiled to himself 'he doesn't think I'm fat but why should I care?'

They took turns in the bathroom with Kyle coming out last ready to flop down on his king size bed only to see Cartman sprawled across it like he belonged there watching some X rated program on his laptop.

"What are you doing? And turn that off, my parents can go through that you know."

"Dude weak. And relaxing on the bed obviously. What is that a crime now?" Cartman clicked some buttons and resumed his program. "There, I cleared the history now shut up I'm watching this."

Kyle tried again, but noticed the program wasn't really overly sexual there was just lots and lots of blood, he recognized it as a Quentin Tarantino film, meaning there were X rated scenes but the movie wasn't just about sex.

Cartman had decided that babying Kyle was awkward so he was letting him walk around now by himself but secretly keeping a close eye on him.

"I'm sleeping on the bed; there's a blow up mattress in the closet and a couch downstairs if that's not cutting it."

"No you get the mattress Jewboy."

"What the fuck. You come in my house uninvited and expect to sleep in my bed no hell no, OUT OF MY BED!"

"Actually I was invited in. You opened the door for me, second of all, this bed is big enough for two so just hop right in." Cartman laughed lightly but scooted over and made room.

Fortunately they were both sleeping in shorts and long pajama pants. The pants Kyle noticed were some he bought too large and they ended up fitting Cartman a little too well. He gulped. Kyle had almost hoped he would sleep shirtless so he could see how fat he still was, yeah that.

"You and your boyfriend Stan probably do this all the time so just don't penetrate me in my sleep and I don't care."

"Whatever. Besides that's some gay shit you and Kenny would do anyway."

Cartman burst out laughing, "Kenny has never slept in my bed or me in his what a fucking joke. I might get rats or something dude. But Jew seriously get in or sleep on the floor. And keep your Jew germs on the other side of the bed."

"Oh fuck off Cartman", Kyle said making himself take up as much room as possible, "it's my bed I'll do as I please."

Kyle was asleep in minutes obviously too worn out to argue or fight with Cartman tonight. He closed Kyle's laptop and sighed. Cartman's mind was swirling with thoughts. 'What was wrong with Kyle? Would he be okay? Why the fuck had he agreed to let him sleep in the same bed?' Cartman listned to the Jew's rhythmic breathing and turned to look at him. The larger boy had suffered from insomnia for years and it was affecting him now. 'Wow for a ginger he sure has flawless skin.' Cartman hadn't noticed he'd reached out a hand to touch Kyle's face but withdrew it immediately.

He still couldn't believe Kyle hadn't had a girlfriend in the past ten years. Cartman himself avoided women like the plague because he hated their fake flirting and obsession with physical appearances anyway. Every girl in the school at this point had tried to get with him except for Henrietta who was sort of friends with him even though he was a "conformist to the core" and Wendy who was dating Stan and had hated his guts for years. He had turned the rest down or humiliated most of them so thoroughly they either hated him or admired him from a distance, either way they told their friends to steer clear. As faggy as it was, he could admit that Kyle was beautiful plus nobody had the personality, the fire, the drive that Kyle did. He gently stroked his face. 'Hmmmm, Kyle has the softest skin.' Before he knew what was happening Kyle had wrapped his arms around Cartman and pulled Cartman's head and upper body flush against his chest.

Cartman was so surprised that he didn't move, however, Kyle's grip was strong and he knew even trying to move the boy would wake him up so he decided just to wait for him to change positions. When he didn't, Cartman became conscious of the fact he could actually feel Kyle's heartbeat against him. He blushed, why he had no clue. 'It's because of how gay this is he decided but for some reason the feeling soothed him and he too was soon asleep.'

Cartman woke up to Kyle's screaming. "What the hell Cartman?!" Cartman quickly released his hold he didn't realize he had on the smaller boy while stretching, feet dangling off of the bed. "What's your problem, God, was that necessary?"

Kyle pointed and angrily stomped to the bathroom muttering something about indency and perversion. Cartman looked down in the direction he'd pointed. 'Wow what a terrible time to have morning wood oh well he'll get over it it's not like he was turned on by Kyle or any shit.' Cartman voted to leave since the weather was no longer bad and there wasn't much point in staying. He walked out, not bothering to lock the door behind him, not his chair not his problem.

Kyle finished up his shower and registered Cartman had left, he then heard his phone going off. He answered it automatically ,"Hey mom."

"Why aren't you at school Kyle?! The weather isn't bad anymore go to school!"

"Mom calm down I just woke up but I'll head there in a bit." He hung up on her not bothering to say goodbye. He flipped through his texts. Stan: hey dude what's up? 12AM Also from Stan: Kyle my bud where the fuck are you? Bus is about to leave. Should I wait? 8:03AM Stan: If you were going to skip you should have told me btw Wendy's mad at me again. :/ Some bs about me not paying for her meal last night even though she said don't worry about it. Go figure. lol 10AM

Kenny: fuck you Craig! I fuck way more bitches than you and that's a fucking fact! 3AM Kenny: Sorry dude that wasn't meant for you btw I fucked three hoes last week. Want to hear about sucking and fucking at the same time? 8:45AM

God Kenny was fucking weird and disgusting sometimes. He raised his eyebrow at the next unread text. Bebe: Are you gay? 10:30PM 'What the hell?' He rolled his eyes. 'Bebe was retarded.'

Cartman: Hey Jew I know you wanted to keep cuddling haha fagg! but don't forget our agreement. Btw you are so doing my math and history assignments I'll drop all the stuff by today after school. ^0^ 8:46AM

'What the fuck.' Kyle grabbed his bag and checked the time 10:40AM he'd get to school in 15 min so he decided to get started now. He walked in second period about 10 minutes late and of course was called out by Mr. Garrison.

"Kyle how rude sit down I'm trying to teach. As I was saying Cher has had no plastic surgery. I can prove it with these pictures of her supposedly pre and post surgeries. Plus, just check out her mom. That woman can still get it anyway she wants."

"Hey dude," he slid into the empty seat by Stan. "Sup man." Stan looked up from his doodling. He always doodled in this class; today it was random dragons and sci fi stuff. Kyle didn't care much for that genre , but Stan's drawings looked really good. He smiled at his best friend.

"What'd I miss?"

"Not a damn thing." Kenny interjected, "But I did get some pics last night." He shoved naked pics of some random chick in their faces. "Gross dude." Kyle closed his eyes and shoved at the phone. "Wendy would kill me," Stan said irritably also refusing to look at the phone. "Fags. Cartman wants to see right buddy?"

Cartman sat a row over and had been looking in the direction not sure why though. "No poor boy, why would I want to see that when the internet exists. Besides she's just some dumb whore." Kenny rolled his eyes. "All ya'll are dick riders." Noone justified his stupidity with a response.

A/N: Just to clarify, in my story Cartman is a closer fried to the three instead of just someone who just hangs around because he feels like it. Once again, it's Cartman and South Park, it will be offensive. I have nothing against Jewish people, homosexuals, etc. So any flames regarding that will be ignored. Constructive Criticism is always welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: These first few chapters are long because they're prewritten, subsequent ones may be shorter, but I'll try to lengthen them.

So what time will you be home today Jew? Cartman had texted him during lunch even though he was sitting right across the table from him. 'Typical Cartman shit.' Kyle looked up at Cartman definitely deciding not to justify that with a reply.

Cartman responded by glaring at him and being especially rude and offensive the rest of the day.

Stan turned to Kyle, "Hey you coming with us tonight? Wendy's still mad, but Kenny and I plan to hit up some arcades. So you coming?"

"Sorry Stan, I have a lot of homework left to do. Last night I didn't get much done." He hated to burst his super best friend's bubble, but he couldn't have a free night of fun right now.

"Weak dude. Okay, well I'll text you later on then in case you change your mind." Stan smiled brightly.

"You in Kenny?"

"No money dude, but," His face looked like a light bulb had come on in his head, "Hell yeah! I can screw some chick there to get in, maybe she'll even give me some extra cash for coins if-"

"Too much information buddy. Ok, you're in. Cartman?"

"Guys, how old are we 8? I wouldn't be caught dead there." He laughed and walked off, tossing his reusable plastic lunch tray in the trash to the irritation of the lunch workers. Chef threw his hands up in the air in an exasperated fashion. "I swear that Cartman boy needs to learn discipline."

"Cartman's so dumb," Kyle said rolling his eyes, "He was there literally two weeks ago."

The rest of the day was uneventful and the bus ride home bored Kyle immensely. He gazed pensively out of the window, realizing none of his friends were on the bus.

Kenny had been in detention for the third time that week, supposedly for sexual indiscretion, basically he was in trouble for being himself. Kyle laughed to himself.

Stan drove most of the time now, but today he had some sports practice. If Kyle remembered correctly it was soccer. Unfortunately, Kyle's mom refused to let him ride home with Stan. 'What a bitch.'

Cartman was who knew where. He appeared and disappeared depending on his mood. Somedays he showed up late, others not at all.

Kyle had barely walked in the door of his house and set his stuff down when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in." He called, without bothering to move, figuring it might be Stan trying to convince him to come to the arcade again. If it had been, he probably would have given in.

"Sup Jew," Cartman walked in the door, unceremoniously tossed a ton of study materials on the kitchen counter then plopped down on the sofa. He grabbed the remote from the center table.

Kyle finally found his voice, "What the fuck? You can't just walk in here and expect me to do your projects for you."

Cartman had one response, "Agreement. Or have you forgotten?" He flashed a malicious grin Kyle's way.

"Whatever, but I have one condition and you better follow it." Cartman looked up with mild interest. "Hmmmm, you have to be here when I'm working on your homework.

"How about no." Cartman turned his attention back to the TV, not listening anymore. "Or have you forgotten that I Eric Cartman do what I want when I want."

Kyle couldn't help but wonder why exactly he had asked that. 'Did he actually want the fatass around more?'

"But by the way Kyle," Cartman said waltzing over in a catlike fashion, "Have you made your appointment or whatever yet. I don't care really, but we do have an agreement, slave."

Kyle responded, mumbling something about controlling bitchy fatasses and left the room. He came back shortly, "Now I did, happy?"

"Whatever," Cartman said. "You got any non kosher food?"

"Ugh." Kyle said annoyed. He would have responded with a no, but Cartman was already flipping open the cupboards and Kyle didn't feel like dealing with another argument right now anyway.

While Cartman ate literally whatever he could find that suited his fancy, Kyle began working on the project. He normally would have fought back more, but seeing as Cartman knew his secret and wouldn't hesitate to tell everyone, he decided it was best to do as he said for now, unless it was too ridiculous. He rubbed his head due to frustration not pain, but Cartman was beside him instantly asking if he was okay. "Kyle you need to relax and stay calm."

Realizing this was extremely out of character for him, Cartman covered it up with the most offensive thing he could think of, "Damn pussy kike shitstain fuck."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "What's with you lately? You're acting weird and that wasn't insulting, so much as it was downright stupid. Usually you're at least clever." The Jewish boy taunted him.

"Nothing," Cartman said and actually proceeded to help Kyle with the project. Kyle almost passed out in shock. "Ummm, what exactly am I supposed to do?" Cartman had clearly not even read the directions.

Kyle patiently walked him through the section he had expressed interest in. "Why are you helping now?" Kyle deadpanned nonetheless.

"Well, you'd just do a shitty job if you did it by yourself because you're Jewish." He laughed nervously.

Kyle didn't say a word. "Does that piss you off Kyle?"

Kyle shook his head, "Actually as long as you're helping I couldn't really care less for the reason. It is a group project after all. Okay so this is step one."

Cartman actually paid attention to Kyle's explanation and began working on the section he had picked out.

Kyle settled back in his chair smilling to himself as he opened his Literature book. For once, his exhaustion and irritation didn't stem from Cartman; it stemmed from other aspects of his personal life.

The weird text from Bebe made him uneasy. 'Who cared that he hadn't had a girlfriend in a while? That didn't mean he was gay, dammit. Also, just because he could appreciate traits in a guy didn't make him gay either.'

More importantly, his mom hadn't slacked off about grades lately. In fact, she'd gotten worse with him missing so much school and graduation fast approaching. 'Kyle if your grades drop you'll be stuck here. Only losers would make that score, etc.' His mom surely knew how to motivate someone. NOT.

He elected to take a nap after finishing his Shakespearean sonnet, finding it unusual that he not only trusted Cartman to do the project without him hovering over him, but that he trusted him enough at the present moment to fall asleep in his presence.

He closed his eyes. 'I'm just too trusting of a person', he thought in his half nap half conscious state. He had trusted Cartman before, but the larger boy had proved time and time again how stupid Kyle was for giving him another chance. Call it crazy, but somewhere deep down he felt like, deeper than the depths of the ocean, there was a kind heart and some good in Eric Cartman. He still told him he hated him but had come to terms a while back that he considered him a friend: An offensive, disgusting, unreliable friend, but a friend nonetheless. Things just wouldn't be the same without him. Who would have thought? 'He probably couldn't give less of a fuck about me though and why should I care anyway. I really shouldn't. I mean, I don't. Oh forget it.'

Kyle wasn't sleeping, just resting for a bit. Cartman excitedly worked on the section he had picked while talking aloud. Kyle thought it was pretty amusing considering he had barely ever been around the hellion without him cursing him out or yelling some slur and here he was being amicable. Kyle could get used to this. He opened his eyes and checked his phone.

Stan: Do you have a minute? I really need to talk to you. Like 10 minutes ago.

Mom: Do your homework NOW!

'Wonder what Stan wants. No surprise there, typical Mom shit.'

Ike: hey kyle :))) do me a huge favor and keep that fat bastard out of my room Sent 3 min. ago

'Wow really', he laughed to himself.

He decided to call Stan.

"Kyle', Cartman whined, " you haven't even done your part and you're supposed to be the one doing my shit, retard."

"Stuff it Cartman."

He covered the phone so Stan wouldn't hear Cartman talking, "Hey Stan what's up?"

Stan sounded worried, "Okay, look, don't tell anyone I told you but a bunch of people are going around calling you gay. Apparently Bebe asked you because she heard a rumor and you didn't respond." Kyle opened his mouth to respond, but Stan continued, "So I just wanted to let you know that even though I'm straight as a board, I can accept you, but this is going to sound so gay. Oops, no offense if you are that is. But do you have a crush on me?"

Kyle was baffled, irritated, and downright confused. "I didn't respond to Bebe because she's a dumbass nosy bitch. I'm not gay, Stan, and I don't have a crush on you. You're like my brother, so yeah you don't ever have to worry about that. But if I was gay, you'd be the first to know, trust me dude." Kyle usually didn't call women bitches not even his mother aloud because it was disrespectful and chauvinist, but being that concerned with someone you don't even talk to's sexual orientation had earned Bebe that moniker this time.

"Okay dude, well for real, I'm here for you if you ever need to talk and since you've been acting funny lately I figured I would ask to see if that had something to do with it. Is everything okay at home by the way? You always seem really exhausted and you've missed a lot of school recently."

'Shit, Stan was catching on'. "No dude I'm fine just that virus from about a week ago dragged me down and my classes are no joke. All the AP tests and projects you know all about that. Anyway, I'm working on a project for history right now so I'll catch you later."

"Okay bye dude." They disconnected.

Cartman was currently watching tv. "Nothing good's on damn it."

"Who was that Kyle your bitch of a mom?" He hadn't heard the conversation, thank God.

"Shut up. And it was just Stan, not like it's really any of your business. Are you done?"

Kyle looked at Cartman's portion. "Yeah Jew I did my part now you do the other 4/5. Haha." 'Cartman was still Cartman no doubt about it' Kyle sighed.

"Let me make sure you're not going to fail us." He said as he began to look over the work so far.

He was genuinely surprised at Cartman's work, not only had he managed to not praise Hitler or demean the Jews, he had gone into the music and fashion of the day and Kyle was actually impressed.

"So how cool is my part? Pretty damn right?"

For once he had to agree, his part of the assignment was flawless. "Good job Cartman. Just damn." Kyle didn't really have anything to criticize for once.

Cartman just smiled, not his normal I'm about to curse you out or get revenge smile, but an honestly happy smile. He had a feeling not very many people got to see this. Kyle's heart thudded harshly at the thought; he looked away from Cartman. 'What the hell.' He dismissed it as stress.

He had never ever thought of Cartman as anything but an anti-Semitic asshole, not even for a second, but Kyle hoped they could be friends. Heck, Kyle already kind of considered him one, now it would just be up to Cartman. It would be a welcome addition if he kept acting like this that is.

Cartman got up to leave, "It's been fun I guess Jew, later." As Cartman was about to walk out the door, Kyle called, "Hey if you're not busy, can you take me to my appointment tomorrow?" He regretted the question instantly. 'Of course he fucking can't; he hates you.'

"Sure Jew, now can you let me leave?" He smirked almost playfully. "When is it?"

"Right after school."

"Okay, well just ride home with me, you know what I drive and where I park." 'My car is finally fixed, fuck yes.' And Kyle was the first one besides him who would get to ride in it. For some reason this thought excited him. Cartman suppressed the thought quickly.

Kyle couldn't speak as Cartman left. He just decided to go to bed to silence his swirling thoughts. The next morning Kyle exited his dreamlike thoughts when he noticed Stan was on the bus today. They sat together just like old times and made small talk. Kenny and Cartman sat across from them. Nothing too unusual there.

A/N: Sorry if the chapter breaks are weird. Hope you're enjoying so far!


	3. Chapter 3

What was out of the ordinary, however, was that Cartman didn't insult Kyle. At all. He just looked in his direction, made eye contact and acknowledged Kyle with a simple, "Kyle." When the two best friends came onto the bus. Cartman then put his headphones in and turned straight ahead, pretty much ignoring Kenny, who clearly didn't care as he was doing something on his cell phone. Probably checking out some dirty pics or porn if Kyle had to guess.

Kyle didn't dwell on it too much. He had actually been looking forward to today for several reasons. One, he had finally caught up on most of his school work, save the most current project. He would just finish that over the weekend. He and Stan would finally get to talk more in person than they had in the past month or so, plus, dare he say it, he would get to spend more time with Cartman. Since Cartman had been acting more human and friendly lately, Kyle really kind of liked being around him. Of course they still insulted each other, but it lacked the usual malice.

The thing that didn't set right with Kyle was why Cartman was being so nice to him of all people. He had barely mentioned their agreement and for some reason Kyle wasn't constantly worried about him telling people. Also, his thoughts concerning the fatass as of late had genuinely been creeping him out. 'Handsome? Nice? Even looking at his butt?'

'What if he really was gay?' Kyle honestly would have no issue with this. His family on the other hand was an entirely different story. No, my issue would be the fact that it's Eric fucking Cartman and he hates me and absolutely everything about me.' Yeah kind of a big lifestyle difference there.

Kyle was a little apprehensive about his doctor's appointment on top of all of these confusing thoughts, but this went to the back of his mind. He really was a one step kind of person about these things.

"Earth to Kyle," Stan waved a hand in front of his face. "What's been up? You look like you're thinking really hard about something?"

Kyle's face reddened slightly, "No just thinking of some silly little things that's all. It's pretty embarrassing, I'll um tell you later."

Stan grinned and whispered, "Were you thinking about someone, maybe?"

Kyle mouthed I'll tell you later as the bus pulled up outside of their school.

Cartman was MIA most of the rest of the day, not that much of anyone noticed. The only one who really had a lot of classes with him was Kenny. Kyle and Stan were taking AP courses and rarely saw the other two boys except in the hallways or lunchtime.

Stan and Kyle got to lunch fairly early and had barely sat down with their lunches when a super annoying voice said snobbily, "Wow, you really are like a gay aren't you Kyle?" He looked up into none other than the annoying, pale face of Red. Neither boy replied.

She shoved his arm, trying to knock his food off the table. Kyle grabbed her arm, not hurting her, just keeping her at a reasonable distance. "What's your problem?"

Red scoffed angrily. Crossing her arms, she huffed again. "Me? Problem? Ha. You're the one with the problem, the gay problem. Now you're trying to turn poor Stan gay." She was wearing a skin-tight pink dress that barely covered her mid-thighs. If either boy had wanted to, they probably could have seen up her dress all the way as she wasn't wearing underwear. 'Too bad Kenny was missing this' Stan thought.

"Shut up Red. And leave us alone. We'd like to eat lunch in peace." Stan said dismissively, beginning his lunch. Red yelled angrily. "No! It's too late, fuck!" She grabbed Stan's arm trying to get him away from Kyle and tried to slap Kyle, when someone from behind caught her arm. It was Cartman. "Is there a problem here, bitch?" Cartman on the other hand had absolutely no problem calling anyone out of their name especially people who pissed him off.

'Always quick to the point', Kyle thought sweatdropping.

"Besides Kyle being a fag and turning people gay? I don't have one." He increased pressure on her arm, "Ugh, stop you fat bastard you're hurting me." Red whined.

"Like I give a shit." He shoved her slightly, "Now go away and be a slut somewhere else."

Kenny who was standing behind Cartman, tried in vain to look up her dress. She had walked off too fast. "Goddamnit, Cartman. I can't ever have fun."

"Kenny, seriously."

The two sat down and began eating their lunch like nothing had happened.

Both Stan and Kyle were shell-shocked. Not only had Cartman come to Kyle's defense, he had actually ignored a golden opportunity to insult both Stan and Kyle. Was this an episode of the Twilight Zone or something?

"Wow you must really hate Red to stick up for Kyle over her." Butters stated.

Cartman looked annoyed, "Who said you could sit here?"

"It's a free country, so I-I-I I guess, I just- Oh hamburgers." Butters picked up his tray and walked away to sit with Jimmy and some other friends.

"Thank God." Cartman said.

"You guys are being awfully quiet. What's up?" Kenny asked.

"Oh uh, nothing." Kyle said.

The boys made conversation about school, girls (well that was mostly Kenny), etc.

Stan snapped his fingers, "I just got a cool new video game today. Anyone free to come over and play it?"

"I'm in." Kenny nodded immediately and mumbled something nobody heard clearly.

Cartman shook his head, "I have business after school."

"Ok? Kyle?"

Kyle hated nothing more than lying to his super best friend, but he couldn't risk telling Stan here or period right now about what was going on with him, not knowing how concerned Stan would get and try to help. "I have a lot of work to do Stan, but by this weekend I should be free. What's going on then?"

Stan frowned at first but then smiled again. "Oh well, I was thinking you could spend the night Friday night and then we could all go to Token's big party."

Kenny's ears perked up, "I fucking love parties."

"Yeah, we know poor boy." Cartman said with his mouth full.

"You all are coming right? Everyone's invited." Stan smiled, "just bring food or drinks and there's no charge."

Kenny looked panicky.

"Don't worry," Kyle patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah", Stan added, "we've got your back dude."

"We can go to the store with our fake IDs Friday night then?" Stan asked.

"Yep, it's a date." Kyle grinned, high fiving his friend.

"God, really." Cartman and Kenny both rolled their eyes.

"Are you coming to the party Cartman?" Kyle asked.

"No, parties are stupid. Everyone gets drunk off their ass and people just randomly fuck. No thanks, Jew." He got up to leave the lunch table.

"His loss," Kenny muttered and resumed texting someone.

"Who you texting Kenny?" Kyle asked trying to look and see the name on his phone not so discreetly.

"Noone!" Kenny quickly closed his flip phone and looked flustered.

"Fine, fine! Geez, chill out." Kyle laughed. It was really unlike Kenny not to advertise whatever he was doing or looking at on his phone though, especially if it was related to a girl.

The rest of the day was uneventful, however, when Kyle was walking to Cartman's car after school (he must've gone to get it sometime during school if Kyle had to guess), he was approached by Clyde.

Clyde just stood in front of him and cracked his knuckles, sneering. "Can I help you?" Kyle asked irritably and sardonically, just because he was a bit smaller didn't mean he allowed himself to be bullied. Besides, he had never liked Clyde all that much, just tolerated him for the sake of mutual friends.

Clyde shoved him so hard he hit the ground, scraping his elbows harshly. "What the hell, Clyde? Seriously, what's your deal?"

Clyde grabbed him by the collar and jerked him up quickly, "My deal Brofuckski is that I heard you got physical with my girlfriend Red." He began squeezing Kyle's neck. 'This guy is crazy.'

He tried to get away from the larger football player, but to no avail. He choked out. "I didn't. She's obviously still mad I rejected her four years ago. I don't like her at all. Let go of me." Kyle tried to scratch Clyde or hit him, but Clyde's grip got tighter.

Kyle saw spots in his vision. He was having problems breathing.

Suddenly, Clyde's grip was gone and someone was gently lowering Kyle to the ground. Kyle coughed and when his vision cleared, noticed Clyde was gripping his face and Cartman of all people was practically holding Kyle like a doll.

Kyle stood up quickly, "I'm gasp, fine. Um, thanks."

Cartman nodded and continued to glare at Clyde. "I'll break more than your fucking nose next time, dick."

"Watch your back! Both of you fuckers. Your time is coming." Clyde said, clutching his bleeding, clearly broken nose. He mumbled something about someone not paying him enough and stalked off.

Cartman and Kyle got in Cartman's car. It wasn't super impressive, but it was nice enough. It was an older Mercedes 1980 model, burgundy in color, and Cartman thought it was cool, so there.

They rode in silence for a few minutes. "You didn't have to do that. I hate owing you for a favor on top of the one you're already doing for me." Kyle was honest. He really wouldn't be surprised if Cartman turned around and tried to get him to suck his balls because of this for owing him or something crazy.

"Don't mention it. How's your neck?" Cartman asked awkwardly.

"I'm fine, but really, you didn't have to do that. And thanks for the ride."

"It's seriously fine."

They pulled up outside the clinic. "Well are you going in with me?" Kyle asked in what he felt was an incredibly stupid way after Cartman made no move to get out of the car.


	4. Chapter 4

Cartman glared at Kyle with such intensity the redhead was taken aback. Sure, the fatter boy usually wasn't kind especially to him but lately he had seemed different. 'In a good way', Kyle ventured 'maybe the change would be a permanent one.' Now, he was guessing he was wrong.

"No. If you want to go see the damn doctor, go by yourself." Cartman looked beyond discussing the point.

Kyle rolled his eyes obviously and left the car slamming the door hard behind him. He opened the door once more to say something angrily.

"You'll never change; and to think you actually cared."

Kyle walked in the stark white waiting room, signing in without really paying attention to what the receptionist was saying, and sat down on a couch near a window. 'How could he act dare he say it sweet one minute and then hateful as the Devil himself the next?'

"Excuse me, um, Mr. Broflovski, was it? The wait will be about 20 minutes is that okay with you or would you like to reschedule? I apologize for the delay and I understand you have a scheduled appointment. Plus you're early."

The receptionist lady was gushing and rambling now. Great, thought Kyle, just freaking great. If he hadn't pissed Cartman off enough by slamming the car door to his precious Mercedes and yelling at him, the wait would surely give the hateful boy any excuse he needed to leave him here.

Kyle decided since he was already at the doctor he might as well wait.

"Yes, that's fine." Kyle replied with little emotion. He checked his phone and opened the only text he had.

Kenny: Kyle ummm I kind of want to touch base with you about something but you have to swear not to tell Stan or fatass. Can you promise and call me in a few minutes?

Kyle raised his eyebrows. 'Okay, not the text I wanted to receive but at least it wasn't some dumbass asking if I was gay again. That shit was getting annoying really quickly.'

Since no one else was in the waiting room and the doctor was busy anyway, Kyle opted to call Kenny.

Kenny answered on the second ring, "Thank God you weren't busy Kyle."

"Not at the moment, but make it quick, I er, I'm on a tight schedule today."

Kenny laughed, but didn't say anything. The blond was clearly stalling. Kyle had known him long enough to pick up on this.

"Spill, Kenny. I know it's important since you decided to use correct grammar."

"Okay, God this is embarrassing." Kenny rambled and Kyle could picture the boy in the orange hoodie running his hand through his short blond hair. It was a nervous habit of his since childhood that he hadn't seemed to break.

Kyle smiled slightly. Regardless of what it was about, talking to Kenny was a nice change. He had been avoiding Stan, Kenny, and everyone else because of his illness and, depending on what the answers today were, maybe that could change. The irony of the situation was that, other than pissing him off by making him in his debt, Cartman had been understanding and helpful so far. Kyle could have slapped himself. 'Cartman being helpful? Someone call the presses. The fatass never did anything out of the kindness of his heart. There was always a motive somewhere, but still, taking him to the doctor? What did Cartman possibly have to gain from this?'

"Kyle are you still there?" Kenny inquired. Kyle refocused his attention. How did almost every scenario bring his thoughts back to Cartman? 'Get it together' Kyle told himself.

"Yeah I'm here dude. What's your issue Kenny? I don't have much time left to talk."

"So, the party on Friday," Kenny began. "You're coming right? You and Cartman?"

"First off, yes I know about the party. Second, I'm not sure yet. I have a lot going on. Third, why would I know about Cartman's plans and why are you referring to us as a unit?"

Kenny laughed lightly. "Don't play dumb Kyle. I know the way he looks at you and I know you left school with him today."

Kyle was distracted again, "What do you mean the way he looks at me? Like the way he stares at me plotting the next way to humiliate me or cause me pain? And yeah, I needed a ride, what of it?"

Kyle could picture Kenny's smirk over the phone, "Kyle, Kyle, Kyle, you're the most naïve of our bunch that's for damn sure. You know, I'll let you figure out for yourself what that look means. And ahhh."

Kenny continued, "Okay well I'll tell you really quick just because if I don't tell someone I'm going to explode. I'm meeting a girl at the party."

Kyle deadpanned, "Kenny, sorry for not being more enthused, but you're meeting some random girl at the party. That's not really breaking news bro."

"No", Kenny said, "it kind of is and she's far from random." Kenny now sounded nervous, almost scared.

"Oh no Kenny, you're not meeting someone else's girlfriend there are you? Whoever he is will end up kicking your ass. You know you can't really fight." Kyle scolded.

"It's nothing like that," Kenny said but didn't elaborate further.

Kyle glanced at his phone screen quickly. He still had approximately 10 minutes to kill before the doctor was supposed to see him.

"Forgive me for thinking that," Kyle said sarcastically.

"Just tell me Kenny. I promise I won't tell Cartman or Stan or anyone else."

"I know Kyle and I trust you. It's just-. If the girl finds out I told anyone that we're meeting at the party or texting even before we're there, she might beat me up."

Kyle was thoroughly confused now. "So your girlfriend is violent…"

"Not my girlfriend! God she would kill me for even having this conversation right now. But I know you don't have much time Kyle, so I'll just tell you straight. I'm meeting Stan's sister Shelley at the party."

There was dead silence from Kyle's end of the phone and he thought the redhead had passed out at the news.

"God I knew I shouldn't have told you Kyle. I'm sorry for not telling you in person but you've been so busy lately and I really couldn't tell anyone else just yet."

"That's fine. I'm not mad or anything. Sorry I was just really shocked. I have to go Kenny, but don't worry your unbelievably strange secret is safe with me, but you do have to tell Stan before the party at least. Bye dude"

Kyle's name had just been called and he walked back with the doctor, frightened beyond belief.

The doctor seemed kind as he gestured for Kyle to sit on an examination table and asked for his symptoms while checking his vitals.

"Well, I've passed out several times and sometimes my heart just pounds painfully for no reason, but the most worrisome part is that I have passed out for minutes up to a time and my friend convinced me to come to the doctor. And well here I am."

The doctor smiled kindly at Kyle. "Okay, well let me finish up with these routine tests and give me a few minutes and I'll let you know where you stand okay?"

Kyle nodded. He was clearly terrified.

He swung his legs back and forth as the doctor closed the door behind him. He forced his thoughts to something that wasn't health related or Cartman related. His thoughts shifted to being bullied earlier. 'Why Clyde? Seriously, Clyde should have no reason to physically assault him. There's no way he actually thought that he had feelings for Red. Then again, Clyde could be incredibly stupid at times.'

Kenny realized he had been alternating between staring at his phone and staring blankly at the TV for the last 20 minutes according to his wall clock. Stupid, smart, forward thinking Kyle.

"Damn it!" Kenny cursed aloud, resisting the urge to punch something. Kyle was right. If there was one thing Kenny had learned from the many years they had been friends, it was that the ginger usually was right.

He was damned if he told Stan. The dark haired boy would freak out, naturally. The sister who was practically the bane of his existence when he was younger was talking to a childhood friend of his.

Kenny could just picture telling Stan and Stan subsequently cursing him out asking him why her and threatening him at the same time. Despite the Marsh siblings odd history, Stan was very protective of Shelley and would risk being beaten up to make sure his sister would be okay in the company of her dates.

But Kyle was right. 'Fuck it all'. If he told Stan now, or at least today, the football player would have time to cool down before the party. It was likely he wouldn't say anything or would say very little. If he didn't say anything and Stan found out when the two met up, World War III was a definite possibility.

Kenny gulped and slowly flipped through his contacts. With Stan's name highlighted and Kenny trying not to hyperventilate, Kenny hit send.

Kyle jumped when the doctor knocked on the door. He was wondering if Cartman had left him yet. He was too pissed off at the other boy to text/call, but really wish he knew if he would have to walk back home. It was getting dark outside.

The doctor breezed in, holding his clipboard next to him stiffly.

"Good news or bad news first?"

'Really? This is how he started.' Kyle made eye contact and refused to look away. He hoped his expression bordered on mild indifference and strength of character and not how he actually felt: frightened and hopeless.

"I'll take the good news first."

The doctor smiled in an attempt to reassure Kyle. "Your blood glucose levels are good and the other tests checked out fine, so your diabetes is under control."

Kyle nodded. "And the bad?"

The doctor sighed. "Well, I noticed you have a heart murmer which may have been causing your fainting spells. Either you recently developed it or it has been missed in the past. In either case, there are several things that must be done."

The doctor continued, "Are you sure there isn't a parent or guardian you would like me to discuss this with? Although many people have these and are fine, others can be quite serious."

Kyle almost panicked, "No, no, my family is very busy. I'll just tell them the news when I get home." Kyle wasn't the best liar, far from it. But maybe the doctor wouldn't pay enough attention to his body language to detect it.

The doctor narrowed his eyes. "Right, well, moving on. I'd like to run a few more tests at a later date. Here's a written excuse for you to avoid all strenuous physical activity until we figure out if this is the cause of the fainting issue. I'd also like you to wear this heart monitor for about a month. I'll check your results when you come back for the other tests."

The doctor ran a hand through his brownish gray hair, "Kyle, it isn't that I don't trust your judgment but I know you're only 16. Are you positive I can't reach your parents?"

'Shit. If he kept pushing it, the doctor might just tell him to leave and not agree to see him anymore.'

"You can call my dad's cell. He recently got a new one, so I'll just read it off from my contacts." Kyle spoke suddenly.

The doctor called the number while Kyle was in the room. (A/N: I know this doesn't ever happen, but I need it to for this part, sorry if this irritates anyone).

"Yeah?! Who is this?" A very irritated voice answered quickly.

"Is this Kyle's dad? I would like to share some medical results with you over the phone if you have a moment."

Kyle held his breath. This was bound to fail. He would have preferred giving the doctor Stan's number. The only reason he chose Cartman's was because Cartman knew all the details, but the chances he would play along were slim to none.

There was a long silence.

"Yes this is he. Sorry was finishing up some work. Go ahead."

The doctor looked less suspicious and ended up sharing with "Kyle's dad" aka Cartman the results so far.

"Gotcha, I'll take good care of him." Cartman said and the phones disconnected.

Kyle was floored. "Looks like you weren't lying. Sorry, Kyle, it's just a precaution since you're under 18."

The doctor looked sheepish and apologetic now. "Oh! Sorry, here's your excuse for strenuous activity and the heart monitor. Once again, sorry for not believing you. Just pay at the second door to your right on the way out."

"And don't worry too much Kyle. I don't think it's too serious, just taking precautions. Have a good evening."

Kyle paid and walked outside, expecting to have to make the long walk back home in the fast approaching dusk.

Cartman was sitting in his car, feet up on the dash, staring at his phone. Probably playing a game or something Kyle guessed. He tapped on the window.

Cartman glanced up sharply then unlocked the door. He put his phone aside.

"Mind telling me what the fuck that was all about Jew?! First you slam my car door and disrespect me, then you give them my number and expect for me to pose as your dad. Seriously!"

"Sorry." Kyle said not making eye contact with the angry boy beside him.

"For- what exactly?" Cartman couldn't let anything go. He had to goad him about this now of all times.

The redhead glared at Cartman now, "I'm not spelling it out for you dumbass! I'm sorry for giving the doctor your number though. I couldn't believe you went along with it, so uh thanks."

Kyle mumbled the thanks part quietly, but the satisfied smirk on Cartman's face told him he had heard him.

"But why?"

"He thought I was lying to him and kept asking if my parents were available to talk about the results. You saved my ass big time." Kyle hated admitting it, but Cartman had really helped him out.

"So that's 2 favors you owe me now." Cartman flicked his fingers up in thought, "But I'm taking you home now. You already took up my whole afternoon. I could have been doing something cool."

Cartman began the 20 minute drive to Kyle's house. He wasn't driving recklessly exactly, but Kyle cringed at how quickly he was taking some of the corners.

Kyle was frustrated now, "I knew you weren't just being nice. Ugh you're insufferable."

Cartman snorted and the car grew silent.

Kyle's worry at what the doctor said flew back to him. "Besides, you heard what the doctor said and you clearly don't even care. You probably want me to drop dead."

Cartman slammed his Mercedes brakes so hard, Kyle nearly hit the windshield. And that's why you wear a seatbelt kiddies. Dirt flew up all around them and Kyle couldn't believe they hadn't crashed.

Note to self: pissing Cartman off while driving is a death wish.

He turned to Cartman who was looking positively livid. Kyle could tell his face was red even in the twilight of evening and his hands were clenched into fists.

He then turned his full attention to the redhead next to him and grabbed both of Kyle's shoulders. Cartman was inches from his face at this moment.

His expression unreadable, Cartman all but yelled in Kyle's face, "You have no fucking idea what I want. So don't act so high and mighty."

Kyle forced himself not to cringe or shirk away, feeling bold he replied evenly, "Well I can tell you don't care. It doesn't take a genius to-"

Cartman grabbed him again, probably to try and strangle him Kyle guessed. Unexpectedly, Cartman was hugging him tightly.

What the hell.

Kyle could feel the heat of Cartman's body against him and decided it was preferable to being strangled, definitely. In fact, he rather liked it.

Cartman finally spoke, "I probably won't ever say this again. But take care of your fucking self Kyle! Do what the doctor said. I enjoy harassing you too much for you to die."

Kyle's eyes widened. Cartman's voice had almost sounded like he was- Crying?! Kyle reached a hand up to Cartman's face to see if his suspicion was correct, but the larger boy jerked away as if he'd been burned at Kyle's touch making sure that Kyle couldn't see his face, even though it was dark outside.

Kyle's head was spinning. He couldn't believe it. This was Cartman. Eric Cartman. A person who did everything for himself and only cared for himself (maybe his mom on the rare occasion), but his attitude just then. 'Kyle had known him long enough to know that Cartman was saying he cared about Kyle in a very rude, fucked up way, but still and yet expressing his concern.'

Kyle worked up his courage and scooted in the seat closer to Cartman and touched his arm gently, almost as if he was touching something breakable.

Cartman didn't move but his voice cut through the stagnant air, "And I meant what I said. You stick near Stan, a teacher, or me at all times. Don't fucking go anywhere by yourself trying to be a damn martyr. Seems like that's what you're good at. Or I will be forced to kill Clyde." Cartman's voice no longer shook.

Kyle turned the light in the front of the car on. He wasn't sure why, but he needed to see Cartman's face now. The usually confident, sadistic expression was absent. All Kyle saw was reserved concern and some other emotion. Maybe the other emotion was fear. Yeah, Kyle guessed. He was probably afraid Kyle would yell at him or call him a liar.

The redhead knew that Cartman wasn't lying and awkwardly hugged his enemy, er friend, fine, frienemy.

Cartman slowly returned the hug pulling Kyle nearly into his lap.

"I-" Cartman began, but then Kyle turned his head. Piercing green eyes met chocolate brown ones. "Nevermind." Cartman said. And Kyle knew not to ask even though he was curious as to what his friend would say. He decided after that confession; he could consider Cartman a friend at least provisionally.

The two hugged for a little while longer. Cartman turned the light off and cranked his car up again getting back on the road.

Cartman and Kyle made light conversation the rest of the way, ignoring the intimate moment between them.

"See you tomorrow, Kyle." Cartman said as Kyle got out of the car. Kyle grinned and waved before he stepped inside his house.

Cartman felt hot. He touched his face. Oh God no. He was blushing. 'Fucking Jew and his fucking smile.'

But he realized he wasn't mad at Kyle at all. He didn't even care that he had inconvenienced him.

No this was why he became mad as he pulled out of the Broflovski's driveway. He had never blushed from someone else's smile before. Only from embarrassment or ridicule.

At least it was too dark for Kyle to see. That would only raise more questions that Cartman himself didn't know the answers to.

"Kyle! Where were you? We were all worried sick." His mom scolded him while hugging him.

"I'm fine, Mom. I was hanging out with Cartman."

Both his mom and dad made shocked faces. His dad's mirrored most surprise; his mother's more angry.

Sheila continued, "I don't understand why any of you even talk to that boy. He's a detriment to society. He is as disgusting as his mother, probably has the same profession as her as well. He is beneath you Kyle."

Kyle had the sudden urge to defend Cartman.

Gerald caught the air of tension and set his paper down, sighing inwardly. 'Why can't I get a break?!'

"Ike is already asleep. Kyle, I'm glad you're home safely but you know better than to hang out with friends on a school night. Let's discuss this at a later date." His dad interjected.

Kyle smiled sheepishly. 'Good old Dad.' "Night mom, night dad." Kyle went to go upstairs.

"What's in the bag Kyle?" His mom inquired.

"Just some snacks from Cartman's." Kyle added quickly, "They're okay for me to eat I promise."

"Goodnight Kyle, but this conversation is far from over young man."

A/N: I liked this chapter a lot. It's also a lot longer than usual, hopefully to make up for my lack of updating and the fact I'm about to go on vacation. Review please!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Updated from the hotel room at the beach after everyone has gone to sleep! Because I'm awesome like that.

Kyle woke up the next morning to the persistent beeping of his Terrence and Phillip alarm clock. Though his parents and even Ike thought it was childish, Kyle actually didn't mind waking up to their silly dialogues. It was a remnant of his childhood that was as pleasant as it was just plain weird.

He rolled out of bed and strode downstairs at his leisure. Today was Friday. He hadn't yet cleared spending the night with Stan for the weekend with his parents, but he guessed anyone would be preferable to him hanging out with Cartman. Kyle felt a pang of sadness at the truth of this statement. However, the redhead decided to use the sadness productively. So what if no one else thought Eric Cartman was capable of anything positive? So freaking what. Kyle believed that almost everyone had good in them and he felt he was just seeing the surface of the true personality of Cartman. God knows Cartman had some rough edges and a sharp exterior, but Kyle was willing to try to get beneath these layers to see what he felt was a person worth reaching.

"Kyle." His mother greeted in a businesslike manner as she sat at the breakfast table. She eyed him warily. "You're up rather early."

Kyle sighed inwardly. 5:45 in the morning was way too early for him to deal with Sheila Broflovski. The only person who could really handle her at this time of day was Gerald and he got to sleep in for another 2 hours. Damn Dad was a lucky bastard. "I'm eating breakfast and then taking the bus." He added mentally 'since someone won't let me fucking get my license or ride with Stan.'

"Bubbie, do you understand why I was so upset with you last night?"

Kyle glanced distractedly towards Ike's downstairs bedroom. "Am I riding with Ike to school today?"

Sheila's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Ike's school got cancelled today and don't try and change the subject."

She continued adamantly, "Your father may see things differently. And I know Stan's parents and even Kenny's parents give that boy the benefit of a doubt, but Kyle the facts are against him. Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Kyle glanced up from his bowl of cereal he had poured. This wasn't the first time and probably wouldn't be the last she ranted about the Cartmans. Yes, she had it out for Liane as much as Eric himself. Kyle really wasn't in the mood.

"Can I spend the night with Stan tonight and tomorrow night Mom?" He added as an afterthought, "And don't worry I'm still listening."

"Yes Kyle, your grades were exceptionally good last report."

"However, promise me you won't be seeing that bastard child again anytime soon. I'll elaborate in a bit."

Kyle bit his lip so hard he thought he had drawn blood. 'Seriously? So much for not judging lest ye be judged.' He knew his mom had a lot to say since she rarely if ever swore. She felt it was sacreligious and reprimanded Kyle, Ike, or Gerald profusely when they slipped up.

"I have to see him at school Mom." Kyle had decided to settle on an honest slightly sarcastic answer. A stupid command will get a stupid response he decided.

Sheila blanched, "You know what I mean Kyle. Not outside of school." Kyle had now finished his cereal and dropped the bowl in the sink lightly. His bag was already across his shoulder and he moved towards the door.' It was barely 6:05 but he would rather be standing in the freezing cold than listening to this bullshit.'

Sheila moved in front of the door effortlessly, "I'm not finished." She continued to block Kyle's path and promote her views.

"Liane Cartman is a disgusting person. She had no business having a child period and her tactless continuation of her profession after having that demon child makes her no better than him. She's probably slept with every single man and half the married ones in South Park, maybe the whole state of Colorado."

Kyle fought the urge to roll his eyes. Liane was far from disgusting, but the whole profession thing….tell him something he didn't know.

"And Eric Cartman," Sheila practically spat his name in disgust, "always tries to hurt you and your other friends, is vulgar, and is a heartless excuse for a human being. I'm sorry Kyle, but the day he dies will bring me great joy."

Sheila hadn't changed her tone the whole time except when saying Cartman's name and towards the end of her speech, injecting some more venom into her words.

Kyle's heart raced in anger and blatant disagreement at his mom's words. He couldn't just let her talk like this, regardless of what time in the morning it was. "People can and do change everyday Mom. Give him another chance. And that's way too harsh. To wish death on him? What does that make you?"

Sheila's face flushed bright red, "There is not one ounce of good in that boy. Mark my words Kyle. He is heartless and a total waste of your time. You would do well to remember that."

Kyle pointed to his watch and sidestepped his mother, "I'm headed to the bus stop. Think about what I said."

Sheila muttered to herself long after Kyle had left. "What does that make me?! A person who is deeply concerned for her child! I don't want Kyle to be hurt by that boy again. Can't he see I'm looking out for his best interests? When someone acts like that Cartman boy does, he doesn't deserve anything kind or good in life at all. I'll get through to Kyle eventually; he's a good boy, just a bit naïve."

Kyle barely made it to the bus in time because of the idiotic argument. He hopped on just in the nick of time and slipped into the seat next to Kenny at his friendly gesture.

"Hey Kyle." Kenny smiled widely.

"Hey dude, Stan and Cartman drive again?"

Kenny looked sad, "Yeah, sucks we have to ride this stupid thing with all the damn little kids doesn't it?"

"Tell me about it." Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Thanks a ton," Kenny whispered in Kyle's ear.

"How did telling Stan go?"

Kenny looked sheepish, "He didn't answer so I told him over voicemail. I haven't heard from him since."

Kyle's eyes widened considerably, "That may not have been a very smart move, Ken. You know how Stan gets."

"Yeah, but what was I supposed to do? I'm out of minutes starting today."

Kyle nodded sympathetically, "I'll try and talk to him tonight. We're spending the night together." Kyle offered in explanation.

Class passed uneventfully.

The only class Kyle had with Cartman was History and he sat beside him vigorously taking notes since he'd missed so much lately.

"Now remember class. The huge project I assigned is due next Tuesday. No late assignments will be accepted. Next class is the last chance to ask questions or you're totally on your own. Good afternoon."

Cartman looked at Kyle smirking.

"What was that for?" Kyle asked after class.

"You know what." Cartman joked back.

"Oh," Kyle recollected, "You expect me to do the rest of the project right? As part of that stupid bet."

Cartman glanced around the two, hazel eyes looking uncertain, he then dragged Kyle into a nearby empty classroom.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kyle was slightly irritated. He wasn't in the mood for clandestine encounters, especially not today.

"No, you can forget about the bet." Cartman ran a hand through his hair. A mannerism that Kyle had learned long ago meant the heavier boy was extremely nervous.

"So what did you give me that look for?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Why is the bet off? You're not going to tell anyone are you?!" Kyle grabbed Cartman by the collar, "You promised not to!"

"Chill, Jew. I swear I haven't told anyone and I won't." He coughed. "But the bet is irrelevant because well, you practically do what I say anyway. Plus, I want to do more on the project."

"Okay?" Kyle was thoroughly confused as he released Cartman. The whole he did everything Cartman says bit aggravated him, but Kyle chose to wait to address that.

Cartman stared into his dark green eyes for a few seconds longer than was probably normal. He could smell the redhead's breath, a mix of cherries and mint. Cartman opened his mouth to say something then closed it back.

"See you Saturday Kyle."

And he was gone.

Cartman caught his breath outside of the classroom. 'Fuck. Kyle's smell had driven him crazy. And those eyes. Damn, maybe Kyle wouldn't wear anything too sexy to the party. He already had a hard enough time keeping his eyes off of him in class or elsewhere. The thoughts of leather and tight shirts on the redhead was too much.'

Cartman looked down. 'OH MY GOD.' He thought. Subsequently terrified and mortified, he ran off to his car, glad class was over for the day.

A/N: Haha please review guys! It may seem like things are moving too quickly but don't worry they won't. Also, sorry for making Sheila such a bitch, but it will be important later on. I won't make her abusive to her kids just because I think she genuinely cares about Kyle and Ike's well being enough not to hurt them, Cartman on the other hand, well we'll see how Sheila deals with him later on.


	6. Chapter 6

Fortunately for Cartman it was the last class of the day so him running like a track star to his Mercedes wouldn't backfire on him.

'Not that I give a single fuck right now.' Cartman began panting heavily as he slammed the door to his car and cranked it in a single fluid motion. 'God fucking damn it! He had gotten a hard on to Kyle fucking Broflovski. Hell he had almost kissed the guy!' While he drove down the road, his little problem dissipated rather quickly, but the reality of what had transpired was seared into his mind like a brand. He would have to be careful in the future. Cartman felt bile rise in his throat. His emotions were twisting and churning causing him to have very little control of himself mentally and emotionally at this present moment. Luckily, his motor skills were based on muscle memory and as he drove to his house about 10 miles over the speed limit, remained unaffected. 'He was scared shitless about what he had almost said to Kyle'. "I want to see you before the party." What type of loser was he now?!

Cartman could no longer deny the facts. At least not to himself. He was undeniably attracted to Kyle. Cartman excused his thoughts as of late as being the conclusion of what had been inevitable for years. He had been focused on making Kyle's life a living hell as long as he could remember. First, it was because he stole Stan as a friend, then it was because he was Jewish, and then he just did it for the thrill of it. It had brought him a sense of sick joy teasing and torturing Kyle. No one else gave that firey shot of adrenaline through his veins, made his heart beat uncontrollably quick with rage, or dared to challenge his insults with ones of their own like Kyle. Butters was a very pathetic substitute as was anyone else. He decided his intense focus on Kyle for so many years hadn't helped matters. Also, the fact that the two were working on their friendship and spending time learning about each other without the venom of past encounters didn't go unnoticed by Cartman. Rarely did anyone want to spend time with him just to be around him and he honestly enjoyed the redhead's company. Even if they weren't trying to bring the other one down, Cartman still felt the same emotions he had in the past. In fact, they were even stronger than they had been.

He now felt a warmth inside his heart whenever Kyle smiled at him or touched him. Plus, though no one knew it, Cartman liked protecting people and things he cared about, so Kyle's vulnerability probably contributed as well. Yeah, that was it, Cartman told himself.

Yes, Cartman admitted to himself on the drive home from school. The surprise boner was the straw that broke the camel's back. It relieved Cartman that he was attracted to Kyle in a way because he had seriously 'wondered if he wasn't asexual from watching all of Kenny's fucking porn and not being turned on in the slightest bit ever.' However, Cartman was adamant that these feelings were lust and slight friendship and would go no further than what had already happened.

Besides, Kyle Broflovski wasn't gay and even if he was, why would he pick a person like Cartman when he could have almost anyone else he wanted? 'Cartman actually winced at the emotional pain since it wasn't like anyone could fucking see him right now anyway'. Though he had lost weight, Cartman knew he was far from good looking, lacked the ability to be a good person on any type of level, and had no idea how to date someone. He mentally corrected himself, how to have a one night stand.

The slightly depressed boy pulled into his driveway, ignoring his mom who looked questioningly at him from the living room as he stalked upstairs to fall unceremoniously on his bed. "Why do I suck so much?" He pondered quietly. He decided he would force his friendship if you could even call it that, with Kyle to be strictly platonic and not even hint at anything else. The thought of rejection almost caused him physical pain. He closed his eyes, hoping to force these thoughts away by sheer willpower.

Kyle hadn't noticed Cartman's hard on and was thoroughly confused by the entire encounter. Kyle shrugged slightly and moved to find Stan deciding he would text Cartman later.

"Kyle! Over here." Stan waved to his friend from his locker. He ran up to Kyle and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you're coming over today! I was scared you'd bail at the last minute. You've been pretty flaky lately." Stan scolded slightly.

Kyle smiled sheepishly, "I'm really sorry Stan. I promise I'll bring you up to speed on a few things for sure when we get to your house."

"Sweet!" Stan said as he grabbed the redhead's arm and practically dragged him to his car. He was surprised his friend's face wasn't hurting from smiling so much. Kyle couldn't help but smile equally widely. God he loved his best friend like a brother.

The two chatted enthusiastically as Stan dragged Kyle towards Stan's small 2 door truck. "Sorry for the mess." Stan added unnecessarily as Kyle hopped into the slightly lifted red truck.

The boys swung by Kyle's so he could pick up his insulin and clothes for the next two nights. Due to the encounter earlier, Kyle elected to run inside alone. "Hey dad." Kyle grinned in genuine relief that his mom wasn't home yet.

Gerald sat his paper aside and took his reading glasses off, "Hey son, listen, about last night."

"It's okay Dad. I get mom's side, too I really do." Kyle really didn't sympathize with his mom's view at all but really didn't want to talk about Cartman right now anyway.

Gerald shook his head gently yet firmly, "No, Kyle, just listen. Please. I promise I'm not going to scold you."

Kyle fought the urge to roll his eyes and pursed his lips. "Don't give me that look, son. Anyway, I just wanted to say I'm proud of you and I trust your judgment when it comes to almost anything. You're not a kid anymore, Kyle, and nobody should treat you like one."

Kyle's eyes widened. This was awesome; his dad trusted him for the most part.

"Try telling mom that." Kyle quipped pensively.

Gerald sighed. "Kyle, if it was just up to me, you'd have a car and be driving right now. God knows we have enough money to get you one. But I know Stan's outside and you're in a hurry so we can discuss that some other time."

Kyle grabbed his already packed bag from behind the kitchen counter and hugged his Dad. "Thanks that means a lot Dad. Honestly."

Kyle went for the door.

"And one more thing. As far as I'm concerned the jury is still out on your friend Eric. If anybody can bring out the good in him, it's you Kyle. I trust you. Have fun at Stan's and your party tomorrow." He smiled and waved.

"-What party?" Kyle tried to play it off.

"I'm not as easy to fool as your mother. Have some fun! You deserve it. Off with you, Kyle. Be safe." Gerald turned back to his coffee and newspaper, signaling the end of the conversation.

Kyle closed the door lightly, re-entering Stan's truck.

"Party on!" Kyle grinned at Stan as he sat in his truck.

No one else was home yet so the boys went upstairs to talk a bit.

"Huh, weird," Stan commented as he scrolled through his phone. "Kenny left me a voicemail yesterday but we're not supposed to go get drinks until 6 tonight. Better see what he needed."

Stan moved the phone to his ear. "Wait!" Kyle grabbed Stan's arm. Stan looked at Kyle like he had grown an extra head. "What's wrong?"

"Umm, about that. I know what Kenny wanted." Kyle looked away from Stan.

"There's no easy way to say it Stan. Kenny and your sister Shelley are kind of talking and are meeting up at the party."

Silence permeated the room. Stan hadn't even blinked for what Kyle swore was 5 minutes.

He lightly tapped his best friend's arm. "Stan, I'm sorry. I only found out yesterday early afternoon and only waited to tell you because he said he would himself. He only did a voicemail because he ran out of minutes."

Stan shook his head. Shock finally registering on his face. "I knew she was talking to someone new. I just can't believe it's Kenny fucking McCormick."

"Oh well, whatever. If it makes her happy, then I guess I'm happy." Stan shook his head one more time then turned towards Kyle. "So is that why you've been acting weird and secretive lately?"

"No dude. Like I said I found out probably 30 minutes before he left you that voicemail. I promise."

"I believe you. Now what's your big secret Kyle?" Stan leaned closer to Kyle smirking slightly.

Kyle really didn't know what to say. He still didn't want anyone knowing about his illness since he hadn't received a definite answer yet. He decided on the partial truth. "My head had been hurting a lot so I finally went to the doctor."

Stan just gave him a look that said please continue. "Doctor said he figured it wasn't anything too serious, but I have to go back in a month for more tests to make sure." Stan looked worried. "Easy, Stan. It's just a precaution." Kyle faked a laugh which Stan readily believed and laughed with him.

"Take care of yourself Kyle. Let's have fun! Which game? Call of Duty or World of Warcraft? You can pick!"

Kyle grabbed Call of Duty without a second thought. "Your ass is going down!"

A/N: There's a reason Cartman is coming to terms with his feelings long before Kyle. And don't worry Cartman's not going to get too dark, just emotional which is kind of how I picture his character anyway. Hope you liked this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Kyle and Stan played Call of Duty long into the night. Surprisingly, Kyle won about as many games as Stan despite him playing a lot less. "No fair, Kyle! I own this game and you almost kicked my ass at it." Stan whined good naturedly. Kyle grinned toothily, "Maybe I sneak in and play it when you're asleep."

Stan laughed, "Yeah right. That's some shit Cartman would do though." Kyle laughed along with Stan.

Stan yawned, "Damn I'm getting tired." He stretched his arms above his head and plopped back against his bed.

Kyle poked Stan in the side, "Nope. I'm your guest and your guest says that you have to stay up." Kyle wasn't tired at all. It was doing him good spending time with Stan. He felt a little better now that he had told his best friend some of the truth. His follow-up appointment would be in 2 weeks though, so then maybe he could give Stan the real truth then.

Stan groaned. "Fine then!" He said pretending to be annoyed, "I'll put a movie on in the background and then we can kind of watch it but talk, too."

Stan put The Terrance and Philip movie in and then turned the volume down quite a bit. Kyle rolled his eyes at his best friend's choice of a movie. 'How old were they, five?'

Stan was leaned back against the pillow with his eyes closed. Kyle was a little nervous. What was there that Stan wanted to talk about still? Maybe, he just wanted to make small talk. He loved talking to his best friend, but he wasn't ready to tell Stan fully about his illness or about him realizing he was gay.

"So who is she?" Stan asked and after a brief pause, "And please don't say there's no one. I know you have a crush. I've known you long enough to tell when you're lying."

Kyle swallowed hard. He had to think quickly. He couldn't risk telling Stan the whole truth when he wasn't even sure of what that entailed. Gee, I recently figured out I was gay and I'm crushing on my enemy Eric Cartman who probably still wants to have me killed in his re-enactment of World War II. Yeah…not happening. But an outright lie would make Kyle feel even guiltier than he already did at not disclosing the truth. Being such an honest person sucked sometimes.

"Okay, fine, Stan. She's in our grade. She's not someone most people would find attractive or really that likeable, but she's special and desirable in her own way. At least that's how I see her anyway." Kyle's face had turned blood red by this point. It was sort of pathetic, but he actually felt this way about Cartman. Sure there was a lot that needed to be resolved and a lot between them that didn't need to be brought up again, but that was his feelings at this point in a nutshell.

Stan smiled and hugged Kyle tightly, "Awwww, my wittle Kyle is growing up! That is so precious! Now I have to try and guess who she is." Stan was so freaking excited about this. Kyle thought inwardly, he's almost as bad as a chick when it comes to stuff like this.

"Let's not." Kyle couldn't believe he had blushed this hard from talking about Cartman.

Stan pouted. "Why the hell not?" He scrutinized Kyle some more. "Oh you haven't told her you like her yet have you? Don't worry I won't pester you too much about it, but I better be the first to find out."

Kyle breathed out in a sigh of relief. "Thanks dude."

"Shit!" Stan jumped out bed. "What's wrong?" Kyle was worried about his best friend.

He clasped a hand over his mouth as he realized both his parents and his sister were asleep. "Will she be at the party tomorrow?"

Kyle thought about it. "I'm not sure."

"Well find out!" Stan said as loudly as he dared.

"Stan it's one in the morning she's probably sleeping."

"Text her anyway. She'll see it tomorrow. But find out if she'll be there because you have nothing to wear mister." Stan slapped his arm.

"I do so." Kyle carefully texted Cartman making sure Stan couldn't see his phone screen. Hey are you coming to the party tomorrow?

"You really don't, Kyle. I know how you are with clothes."

"What does that mean?" Kyle got slightly defensive. It's always either the hair or clothes.

"You hate buying them and you have terrible fashion sense." Stan smiled. "It's okay bro I still love ya. That's why I'm telling you the truth."

Kyle's expression softened considerably. His phone buzzed. He had actually replied.

Why the hell are you up? And duh. We talked about this already.

"She'll be there. Can you give it a rest now Stan?"

Stan's eyes were practically sparkling. "I'm taking you shopping tomorrow. You have to impress her. This is the first chick you've been interested in since like 3rd grade. This is big news Kyle."

Kyle moved to plug his phone in to charge when he saw another text from Cartman. What do you Jews like to drink?

Stan had chosen this moment to get up to go to the bathroom.

I'm at Stan's for a sleepover. Watching a movie. And I like tequila or vodka. Why? Lol

Cartman: Damn Jew. Pour it up. We'll be having to pick your ass up off the floor by the end of the night.

Why do you want to know? And what do you like to drink?

Cartman: haha, that's personal. And Jagerbombs are the shit. You know what that is right?

Doesn't everyone? It's Jager obviously and Red Bull….right?

Cartman: Damn straight. You going to get me some ;)?

Kyle blushed. Really a smiley?

Stan walked back into the room and sat on the bed. "Are you still texting her?" He leaned to try and see Kyle's phone playfully.

"Yes!" And he covered his phone quickly.

"Uh oh having a private sexy conversation?"

"Not really. Just talking about drinks."

"This chick sounds cool. She actually drinks. I can't even get Wendy to try any of the drinks I like. Not that you have to drink to be cool, but eh you know." Stan said sounding a little disappointed.

Stan turned the TV off. "I'm going to bed dude. It's like 3AM now."

Kyle looked at the time and saw that Stan wasn't kidding. They had been talking for about 2 hours and he had been texting Cartman on and off for about an hour.

He decided to reply. "Don't get carried away, Fatass. Anyway I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to bed."

Cartman: Goodnight Kyle.

Kyle was staring at Cartman's last text. Wow, that was actually kind of cute. He was probably reading way too much into it, but he couldn't help feeling special that he had texted him goodnight and used his name as well and not an insult.

'You're acting like such a freaking sissy', Kyle reprimanded himself mentally.

He laid down beside Stan and fell into a dreamless sleep.

A/N: Party will be next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

Cartman wasn't going to send that last text. He really wasn't, but then he pictured Kyle lying in bed, red hair splayed every which a way, with the covers pulled up to his chin and was struck by how adorable the mental picture was. This was quite easy for him to imagine, considering he had snuck in Kyle's room more times than he could count. It had started as a malicious eavesdropping/spying, but had become a guilty pleasure of Cartman's. He then fell asleep, visions of the redheaded Jew haunting his dreams.

As soon as the mall opened the next day, Stan had Kyle dressed and practically dragged him to his truck. "No friend of mine will be looking like a bum in front of his crush! No way in hell." Stan was so sure of himself and so enthusiastic Kyle didn't have the heart to discourage him.

"But do I really look like a bum? Isn't that a little harsh Stan?" Kyle was actually a little offended by the remark. He brushed his hair everyday as best he could, wore deodorant and cologne, and showered at least once a day. He also would never dream of wearing the same clothes two days in a row. 'That shit was just gross.'

Stan smiled as they entered the mall, "I do it out of love buddy. But not really a bum, just someone who knows nothing about fashion whatsoever. Which to girls is just as bad." Stan gently grabbed Kyle's arm again, "Off we go!"

'Good thing I'm not actually trying to impress a girl.'

After the third store, Kyle was getting pissed off. Stan had criticized just about every article of clothing Kyle had remotely liked for whatever reason or reasons. "Too outdated." "Too dorky." "Too cheap looking." "Too snobby looking." "Too brightly colored." "Too dark; you look emo."

He was close to ripping his hair out, when Stan's eyes widened at his current outfit. "Oh my God, Kyle. Fuck."

"What?" Kyle looked at himself in the mirror and turned around sort of in a manly twirl kind of way.

Stan didn't say anything.

"Stan, what's wrong? Does it look that bad? Don't hold back." Kyle laughed sarcastically.

"No! You look good, actually. Like, no homo, but you look fucking hot." Stan ran a hand through his black hair, trying not to make his compliment anymore awkward than it clearly already was.

Kyle blushed deeply in embarrassment. He was wearing tight black leather pants that clung to his legs and ass in all the right places and a dark green button-down shirt that was just as tight.

He really had no clue how good he looked right now. "Let me just fix this." Stan unbuttoned the top two buttons for Kyle. "There, now she won't be able to keep her hands off of you for sure. Hell, I barely can and I'm straight." Stan joked.

Kyle blushed further, "Stan knock it off." He quickly rebuttoned the shirt. "I'm not confident enough to pull something like this off. I'm just not. This is way more your style."

"Kyle, I rarely seriously argue with you but now is one of those times I'm not letting you win. You're wearing that outfit tonight just like that."

Kyle looked irritated.

"I see the way you look when everyone's talking about their girlfriends and boyfriends. You want someone too and there's no shame at all in that." Stan said sympathetically.

Kyle deadpanned, "I'm not desperate Stan and I never said any of that."

"You didn't have to. I'm your best friend; I just know things like that, whether you say it or not." He winked.

Kyle finally stopped protesting and paid for the clothes. "What shoes?"

There was a gleam in Stan's eyes. "Follow me!"

He picked a moderately expensive men's store and picked out some black pointed toe men's boots. "Try these on. And yes this is your size." Stan thrust the pair of shoes at Kyle.

He picked them up and turned them around and around. "Are you sure these are for men? They're sort of feminine-looking."

Stan just pointed to the Men's Apparel sign.

He tried them on and made sure he could walk in them.

"Well?" Stan said expectantly.

"They're weird to walk in, but comfortable all the same."

"Cool. Now let's go get the alcohol we want and get ready for tonight. It's already 12PM." Stan said after they had paid for the shoes.

Kyle had texted Kenny not to worry about coming to the liquor store.

A friend of theirs worked at Liquors R Us so that was where the boys always went. The friend's name was Kevin, Kenny's older brother, and he always looked at their IDs in case the manager was to walk in but let them get whatever they wanted as long as they had the money.

"Hey guys. What'll it be today? I heard about the big party. Hope it's kick ass." Kevin grinned.

"Better be. You coming?" Stan said as he and Kyle began browsing the huge variety of liquors.

Kevin sighed, "Nah, I'm too old for stuff like that, gotta work late anyway."

Kyle found what he wanted in a flash, "That's a bummer man." He picked up his favorite Patron and placed it in the cart.

"You sure you don't want a smaller size, Kyle, fuck that's a lot of alcohol." Stan was impressed.

"I'm sure. I've been so stressed lately that I feel like I could use the extra." Kyle said.

"Alright dude." Stan added his favorite Jack Daniels to the cart.

"Hey how about we go half and half on something decent for Kenny so he doesn't just have PBR like last time?" Kyle suggested.

"Yeah, I don't mind that at all. I have a little extra anyway." They decided on this drink called Hypnotik. "Worst case scenario, the drink tastes like shit and the bottle's pretty. He better not try and use it to get my sister drunk, though." Stan mused.

As the boys made their way to the checkout, Kyle couldn't help recall the earlier conversation with Cartman. It couldn't hurt to grab him a little Jager. If the setting wasn't right, then he and Stan could always drink it themselves. Kyle picked up the medium size Jager bottle and added it to the counter. "I didn't know you drank Jager Kyle." Stan piped up.

Kyle laughed nervously, "Doesn't hurt to try something new every so often."

"Uh huh." Stan replied skeptically. Kyle was a creature of habit if there ever was one and this fact didn't go unnoticed to Stan.

They paid and left for Stan's to get dressed.

Stan wore a dark blue dress shirt and black pants that were form fitting but not as much so as Kyle's. They headed over to the party site about an hour after the official time. Being too early was lame, but so was getting there too late. Kyle had tried to convince Stan not to make him unbutton his shirt, but his best friend had whined so much, Kyle eventually gave in.

The two boys had scarcely knocked on the door when Kenny gave them both a huge hug in answer, "So glad you guys made it." He wasn't drunk yet, just having a good time.

"Nice look Kyle, just damn." Kenny winked as he ushered them both in.

"Before I forget, we brought you something Kenny." Stan and Kyle both handed him the bottle. "Thanks guys!" Kenny grinned widely. "Now we can get this party really started."

The music was good and loud. The food was set up and looked amazing. Everyone present was either drinking or had a drink in their hands. Kyle said hey to everyone he saw from a drunken Butters with his arms wrapped around a girl from West Park to a slightly bored Token who was trying to catch the end of the soccer game on TV despite all the noise.

No Cartman yet. Kyle tried not to be disappointed. Just because they were now considered friends didn't mean much at least Kyle tried to tell himself that.

Stan spotted Wendy, "Hey Kyle would you mind putting the Jack in the kitchen? Wendy's waving me over."

Kyle nodded, "No problem. Want me to take that for you Ken- Nevermind." Kyle was offering to put the Hypnotik in the kitchen as well until Kenny had proceeded to drink a hefty amount straight from the bottle.

Kyle walked into the kitchen placing the drinks down and turned to go when a loud familiar voice startled him, "Did you bring my drink?"

Cartman was standing over his shoulder and he hadn't even noticed him move there. He was smiling at Kyle. There was a red solo cup in his hand filled with some type of clear drink.

Kyle turned around fully crossing his arms over his chest. "Depends. Did you bring mine fatass?"

Cartman inhaled sharply. Kyle's confidence coupled with his choice in clothes was irresistible. He momentarily forgot how to breathe.

"Cartman? Are you okay? You're turning awfully pale." Kyle leaned toward him worriedly.

He shooed the shorter boy away, "I'm fine, Jew." He was glad his voice wasn't shaking or anything gay like that.

Cartman stepped around him and opened the freezer, "It was really cheap and on sale. But it practically jumped out at me." He tried to make it seem like he hadn't deliberated for nearly 45 minutes trying to find a suitable alcohol he thought Kyle might like.

"Wow, Cartman? Watermelon Belvedare Vodka? I've never tried it but I heard this was really pricy stuff."

"Don't flatter yourself Jew. Like I said it was on sale." He waved his hand dismissively. "Oh before I forget here you go. This seems kind of shitty in comparison though." He handed Cartman the Jager. Their hands touched a little longer than would be normal.

"Thanks Kyle!" Cartman moved to hug him and then hesitated, deciding not to at the last second, but Kyle hugged him instead. It was a relatively short hug, but Cartman relished in the feel of Kyle's bare skin against him for those few seconds.

"Thanks Cartman. That was um, really nice of you to get that for me." Kyle blushed slightly. 'So fucking cute'. Cartman thought.

Cartman glanced to make sure no one had seen the hug. Not that he really gave a fuck what other people thought, but he figured if people teased Kyle about it then he would lose any fraction of a chance he might otherwise have.

"Take a shot with me." Cartman said. "I can put the Red Bull in it or not. Since you've never had Jager, right? I'll let you pick."

Cartman set his cup down and placed two clean empty shot glasses that seemed to have appeared from nowhere in front of Kyle and himself.

"I don't really drink energy drinks." Kyle said with slight apprehension.

"Okay, then straight Jager it is." Cartman gracefully poured the shots without spilling a drop, though Kyle guessed from the redness on his cheeks and his overly friendly mannerisms that he was at least a little tipsy. Kyle decided that Cartman had beautiful hands as he watched him pour the drinks.

He handed Kyle the shot. "3, 2, 1 go!"

They drank it together; Kyle trying to decide if he liked the taste while Cartman enjoyed his favorite drink.

"Not bad, not bad." Cartman slung an arm around Kyle's neck and continued to smile at him in that way that made Kyle feel very, very warm inside.

'Was he already fucking drunk? Why did he feel so warm?'

Before he had fully thought about it, he had already said it. "Take a shot of the vodka with me. After all, you paid for it." Kyle was impressed with his own boldness tonight that was for sure.

"It was a gift, but fine, I'll drink a shot with you, but don't share it with anyone else." Cartman said seriously. 'Wow, possessive much?' Still, Kyle couldn't help but find that kind of attractive.

Kyle poured the drinks this time and handed Cartman his. Kyle drank his fastest because he enjoyed the taste of vodka. Cartman wasn't used to drinking vodka straight and almost gagged, but kept his composure just barely.

"How the hell can you drink this stuff straight like that Kyle?"

Kyle was smiling widely now, "That was amazing. Thanks Cartman." He made eye contact with the larger boy. Neither guy looked away as Kyle tried to decipher the expression in Cartman's eyes and vice versa.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard. "Ugh, damn it! What the fuck are you fags doing in here?" Bebe had knocked someone's beer bottle over. She was obviously drunk as her eyes were unfocused and she usually didn't speak so coarsely.

"We're not fags, Bebe. We are clearly having man conversation and drinking manly drinks so just fuck off." Cartman was so dismissive Kyle had to stifle a giggle.

"Whatever buttfuckers. Come out and be social with the rest of us, besides at least Kyle's good looking enough to get a girl, unlike you." Bebe tried to grab Kyle's arm and drag him out while continuing to insult Cartman.

"Bebe, let go of my arm." Kyle gently tried to pull away without hurting her as she was obviously not fully in control of her actions. A drunk Bebe was also surprisingly strong compared to a sober Bebe.

Cartman stood over Bebe, all trace of joking gone from his expression, "Seriously, Bebe. Let go of him. He doesn't want to go anywhere with you."

Bebe shoved Cartman so roughly that he hit the corner of the table hard. He didn't think she would actually touch him. He was beyond shocked. 'That shit hurt.'

Bebe was silent for a bit as Cartman glared at her arm on Kyle's barely acknowledging that she had hurt him outwardly at least.

She gasped sharply, "Oh my fucking God! Are you serious? I was just kidding, but this shit, this will make school headlines."

Kyle just looked confused as he continued to try to pull away from Bebe. And Cartman continued to look murderous.

"The school emotionless fatass has fucking gay feelings for sexy little Kyle here. I saw that look Cartman. See Kyle, you need to stay away from him. Now he's going to try to rape you or hurt you, because that's all that worthless asshole can do."

Kyle had turned to look at Cartman's face when she had said "see Kyle" and had seen a look that almost physically caused him pain. Cartman's face was filled with such a deep pain and sadness and right when Kyle thought he was going to severely hurt her, Cartman covered his face and ran from the kitchen.

Kyle finally succeeded in jerking away from Bebe. "Now where were we Kyle?" Bebe reeked of alcohol as she tried to kiss Kyle. He shoved her lightly, "WE were nowhere. Fuck off. You went too fucking far." He ran off after Cartman.

Kenny entered the kitchen just as Kyle was leaving it. "Is there a problem in here guys? Cartman just ran upstairs covering his face. Did you punch him Kyle?" He joked.

"The problem is right there." Kyle muttered pointing at Bebe. "I'm going to go talk to Cartman."

Bebe looked crestfallen as she turned to Kenny and tried to cling to him, "Why doesn't Kyle think I'm pretty? Why does he care about that asshole?" Kenny looked up as Shelley walked in and hugged him after he managed to put Bebe at arm's length.. "Bebe, I think you need to get someone to take you home. You're all kinds of fucked up." Shelley gave her a look as she and Kenny exited the room.

Kyle knocked on the upstairs bathroom door, "Cartman? Can I come in?" Lucikly downstairs the music and drinking games had gotten so crazy that no one was really missing Cartman or Kyle at the moment.

Kyle could have sworn he heard crying, but then the door unlocked. He walked in the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Cartman was sitting on the floor, his hands covering his face, his body shaking slightly.

Kyle approached with slight caution as he sat beside him without touching him. He felt like he was walking on eggshells. Cartman could be terribly unpredictable.

"Hey." Kyle began carefully.

Cartman sniffed, "Why are you here? Aren't you just going to agree with her?! Like everyone else."

He looked up at Kyle. Tears running down his cheeks. "You probably want to laugh at me. Go ahead. I can't blame you."

Something in Kyle's heart twisted with Cartman's pathetically hurt voice. He walked over to Cartman and wrapped his arms around him, holding him as close to him as he possibly could.

Cartman flinched and tensed up. Kyle gently touched his side. He lifted Cartman's shirt up slightly to see the bruise Bebe had inflicted. It would heal, but it was turning a sickly purple color and the skin was broken a little. He gently ran his hand over it. Cartman inhaled sharply.

"Sorry!" Kyle said pulling his hand away. Cartman took this opportunity to pull Kyle into a very intimate hug where Kyle's head was flush against Cartman's chest.

Kyle blushed hard at being in such close proximity but hugged him back. The position was awkward because both boys were sitting on a floor in a bathroom, but it was still a sweet scene. After nearly ten minutes, Cartman let go, refusing to make eye contact.

He stood up to leave. Kyle then grabbed his hand pulling him back down. "Cartman, I'm not drunk you saw me I only drank two drinks and I want you to listen to me. Bebe is a fucking idiot. She's totally wrong about you. You have a heart and you do have feelings. And well, I can't stand seeing you look so upset. Please say something, anything."

Cartman breathed heavily, "Thanks, Kyle. Even if you are just trying to be nice. That makes me…" He didn't say anything for a long time. "Happy." He whispered.

Kyle stood up now. "Stop that! You're Eric Fucking Cartman. Don't worry about what some girl thinks. Hell, you don't care what anybody thinks and that's one of the things I like most about you. And she's wrong about me. I don't think any of that shit she said. I really think-"

He was cut off by a soft chuckle, "What do you really think?" At least he had stopped crying now that was good.

Kyle stared at Cartman feeling empowered, "I really think your actions prove that you wanted to protect me and to me that counts for something." That wasn't exactly what Kyle was going to say, but his first thought scared him so he picked safer territory.

"Now we're going to go out there and have fucking fun, okay? Forget Bebe. Forget anybody who has some stupid shit to say to either one of us." Kyle was absolutely perfect in this moment in Cartman's eyes and he smiled when he realized that all of this confidence and passion was his effort to make Cartman feel better. It made him feel very special.

"Okay. Um, Jew can you not tell anybody about this?" Cartman said insecurely.

Kyle looked incredulous, "Obviously, dumbass." He flashed Cartman a smile and extended his hand to help the larger boy up.

Cartman took it and followed Kyle downstairs, their hands entwined the whole time. Cartman's mind was reeling at Kyle's statement, "one of the things I like most about you." He took this opportunity to look at the gorgeous Jew holding his hand walking slightly in front of him down the stairs. What all the girls said was totally true. Kyle's ass was indeed, amazing.

A/N: Whoa guys. So this literally wrote itself. Hope you guys liked it. Also, don't focus too much on any types of alcohol. I do drink, but only occasionally and none of that expensive shit so I just googled some stuff to see what was really pricy. I know Belvedere is an actual alcohol but as for if it really comes in watermelon I couldn't tell you. :D I wanted to make it a special gift sort of thing plus I like watermelon.


	9. Chapter 9

Kyle and Cartman continued to hold hands as they walked back into the living room area. Just about every person in their field of vision was either passed out or drunkenly making out with someone. Stan was the exception to the rule who just sat there on the couch staring pensively into space. Kyle spoke first, "Stan, Earth to Stan, what's wrong with you?"

Stan abruptly looked up as he sighed, "Sorry bro, I'm just pissed off at Bebe. Cartman? What are you doing still sober? Usually you're doing wasted karaoke right about now."

Stan had yet to notice the two were holding hands. Kyle and Cartman thought nothing of it and moved to sit beside Stan, only realizing their hands were still locked together when Kyle tried to sit on Stan's left and Cartman on his right. The two both blushed and released their hands.

Kyle quickly looked at Stan's expression. Stan's expression hadn't changed, so whether or not he had noticed the two's out of the ordinary behavior, he refrained from commenting on it.

Stan groaned, "Wendy left to go take Bebe home because she's the only sober one here. Plus, because Bebe "had her feelings hurt" Wendy is staying there to watch her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." Stan said had her feelings hurt in a mocking voice complete with air quotes.

"Fuck my night." Stan continued. 'Poor guy's night was kind of ruined', Kyle thought sympathetically.

"Cheer up! Let's go play some truth or dare or something." Kyle said as he patted Stan on the back.

"With two people, Kyle, come on. I might as well just go to sleep. Kenny is passed out; my sister left since she has work tomorrow morning. Now the Wendy shit. It's just not my night at all."

Cartman cleared his throught, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm here too, asshole."

"Oh right. Sorry, Cartman. I'm just a regular space cadet tonight. Yeah, three people should be more than enough to play let's go upstairs." Stan led the way as the three boys went in the first unlocked room they came to.

After making sure no one was passed out or having sex in the closet, Stan locked the door and joined Kyle and Cartman sitting on the floor.

"I'll go first since it was my idea," Kyle said, "and I pick Cartman. Truth or dare."

Cartman was still tipsy and wasn't in the mood for dares, "Truth, Jew."

"Is it true that you've never been kissed?" [yeah let's just say he and Wendy never kissed for the purposes of this story.] Kyle's green eyes were slightly slanted and glinted dangerously.

Cartman swallowed. He was pretty surprised at this sort of question. Whether it was the alcohol or something else he decided to answer honestly, "Yes, it's true." He looked at the floor.

Stan laughed, "Kyle you can do better than that." He teased his best friend.

Cartman decided to resist the urge to ask Kyle the same question, "Stan, pick your poison."

Stan deliberated for only a few seconds, "Dare. I'm not a pussy."

Cartman's lips curled into a smirk, "I dare you to take three consecutive shots of Jack. No breaks. No vomiting."

Kyle rolled his eyes, "That's ridiculously mean Cartman. He'll get sick! Don't do it Stan."

"Hey, his dumbass picked dare. That's all on him Kosher boy."

Kyle pretended to be pissed off at the nickname but said nothing.

Stan wordlessly poured three shots worth of his drink in a red solo cup and began drinking it.

Kyle whispered to Cartman, "He's going to get so drunk and it's going to be all your fault, fatass."

Stan shook his head and tried not to gag. He smiled. "So, my dare's done. Told you guys I would do it." He hiccupped.

Stan turned his now unfocused eyes towards Kyle, "I dare you to tell me the girl's name you like."

Kyle burst out laughing, "I didn't even pick dare, plus that's sort of cheating and doing a truth in a dare. That's breaking an understood rule."

"Fine, truth or dare, Kyle." Stan said, irritated Kyle hadn't been tricked so easily.

"I pick dare."

Stan grinned in a perverted fashion, "I dare you to take off Cartman's shirt."

Kyle walked over to him and began to pull at his shirt. "No, with your teeth." Stan added, using a fake innocent tone.

Kyle wasn't exactly sure how he managed to keep his face a normal color, but he succeeded in removing Cartman's shirt while keeping his blush under control. Kyle was extremely thankful of this as he took his place between Stan and Cartman, avoiding all eye contact with Cartman especially.

Stan looked confusedly from Cartman to Kyle. "That's quite strange." He mused aloud as Cartman quickly put his shirt back on muttering something along the lines of Stan's a fag.

"What?" Kyle asked. 'Shit had he blushed after all and Stan had noticed?'

"You two haven't fought all night, plus I thought for sure Cartman wouldn't let you do that. Just weird as hell." Stan was obviously drunk at this point, but his observation rang true.

Cartman made a biting comment, "The night ain't over yet, you know?"

Stan didn't respond. "You guys can finish the game. I'm going to sleep." He announced more to himself than the other two boys as he sprawled across the bed and began snoring.

Kyle finally turned to look at Cartman and the two burst out laughing. Kyle looked at the time, "3:00 AM?! Fuck! I need to go to bed soon. I have to study tomorrow."

Cartman didn't respond. "And it's too late for me to go home. My mom will flip her shit. I really don't want to sleep here at Token's either, not with having to deal with all these hungover people tomorrow."

"You can stay at my place."

Kyle continued to panic, "And Stan is already sleeping here. Shit. Shit. I was going to spend the night with him if the party ran late. Double Shit."

Cartman grabbed him roughly by the shoulder. He hated being ignored, "Shut up for a second Kyle and listen to me."

The redhead stopped freaking out and fell silent.

"I said you can stay at my place. Stan's a big boy; plus, it's not like Token or someone will bother him. We'll just lock the door up here and one of us can text him so he doesn't think we drove home drunk or something." Kyle's eyes widened at Cartman's insightful comment.

"You're a genius Cartman! But how are we going to get to your house?" Kyle worried again.

"We'll walk. Come on, I'll lead the way." Cartman offered as the two left Token's unnoticed by any of the others. He ignored the warm feeling he got at Kyle calling him a genius.

Kyle made sure he texted Stan before they left so he would see it in the morning.

As the two walked to Cartman's, Kyle struck up conversation, "I can't believe Stan's terrible luck. Poor Wendy, having to deal with Bebe's idiotic behavior. That's why you don't get shitfaced at parties."

Cartman grunted in response. The night air was kind of cold and it was making his side hurt a little bit as he tried to walk at the same pace as Kyle.

He stopped to catch his breath, clutching his side as he breathed quickly. "Are you okay Cartman?"

Kyle stopped worriedly looking in the direction of his friend. 'God that still sounded so foreign to him. Thinking of Cartman as a friend.'

"Yeah, *pant* just my side still fucking hurts from where that whore pushed me into that table."

Kyle walked beside him and slung Cartman's arm around his neck. The height difference made it a little bit awkward, but Kyle was still able to support some of his weight as Kyle and he continued to his house at the same slow pace.

By the time the two boys got to Cartman's, both were tired and cold. Kyle cast sidelong glances at Cartman as he quietly unlocked the door and stealthily went upstairs. Even in the minimal lighting, Kyle could tell Cartman was in more pain than he let on and his face looked pretty pale.

Cartman fell onto his bed as soon as the two reached his room. Kyle stared at him as he breathed unevenly. 'He knew, logically, he shouldn't be this worried, hell he shouldn't give two shits about Cartman. Oh well, fuck logic.'

He sat on the bed beside Cartman. "Hey" He shook his friend softly. "Are you sure you're okay? Do I need to go get your mom or something?"

Cartman's hazel eyes slowly opened and a smile graced his features, "Worried about me, eh?".

Kyle ignored his question and became authoritative, "Take your shirt off now and let me see."

Cartman blushed slightly, but with the light only from the bedside lamp Kyle didn't notice this. "Fine." He took his shirt off completely, looking everywhere but at Kyle.

The bruising hand spread up the left side of Cartman's side, his rib cage was completely purple. Kyle carefully rubbed his hand along Cartman's ribs. "I'm no doctor, Cartman, but I think she may have seriously hurt you."

He looked enraged, "No way did that bitch do any sort of thing." He coughed again, weakly.

Kyle asked him in a very matter of fact manner, "Does it hurt to breathe? And don't bother lying to me, if you do I'm telling your mom."

Cartman exhaled and nodded. "Seriously Kyle. I'm fucking fine. If you're so worried, sleep up here beside me so you can keep an eye on me. But don't go bother my mom; she did night shift tonight."

Kyle realized he had a point, "Maybe I will."

Kyle turned off the light and climbed into bed with Cartman. The silence between the two was incredibly awkward. Cartman spoke slightly above a whisper, "So what was Stan talking about during the game?"

Kyle feigned innocence, "What do you mean? He was drunk; it's late, let's just go to sleep."

"No, I want to know. Please, Kyle!" Cartman whined in that voice he had always used when he was younger to get his mom to give him whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, Kyle was secretly a sucker for that same voice.

"I really don't know what you mean." Kyle continued pretending to be ignorant.

"He said you liked someone and he asked who it was. So I want to know who it is." Cartman's heart was pounding painfully. Who was his competition for Kyle? Would it even be considered competition considering he probably would never work up the nerve to tell Kyle how he really felt?

Kyle reached out a hand, trying to pat Cartman on the shoulder, but instead touching his face. He withdrew his hand quickly. "Err, it's late, just go to sleep. I'm…really worried about you."

Kyle couldn't believe he had actually said that to Cartman. 'Just wow, seriously what the fuck' Kyle thought to himself.

"Tell me about her." Cartman said quietly.

"Okay, fine" Kyle snapped. He decided to use the pronoun she, 'considering that was as far as Stan knew and the person in question was his anti-Semitic ass.' "The person I like is stubborn. She's so fucking stubborn that she will do anything to get her way, morality be damned." Cartman thought he was finished, but he continued.

"She's pretty spiteful. The person I like seems to have a bone to pick with everything; she rarely if ever says anything nice and often insults people." Kyle smiled fondly.

Cartman closed his eyes. 'God did that ever sound familiar, wait, what the fuck? This person sounded like the female version of him.'

Kyle finished quietly, "The person I like has a soft caring side, but hates letting other people see it, for fear it will make her seem weak."

Cartman froze. Wow if he didn't know better, it sounded like Kyle had just described him, but there's no possible way Kyle liked him. Besides, Kyle had specifically said "she" and Stan had said "girl".

"Are you happy now?!"

Cartman continued to lay in bed, eyes closed, facing Kyle without saying a word. Kyle figured he was asleep. Feeling unbelievably bold, Kyle wrapped his arms around Cartman and squeezed him softly against his chest. He was just happy to get to be with the person he liked, hopefully Cartman hadn't figured out he had been talking about him.

Kyle was asleep in minutes. Wow, Cartman thought. This night had definitely ended much better than he would have thought. He drifted off to sleep not long after, pretending that what Kyle had said was indeed about him and just enjoying listening to the beat of the Jewish boy's heart.

A/N: I know I know! This was pretty mushy gushy. Blame the lack of recent canon Kyman for this chapter. Next chapter won't be because we're going to have quite a bit of drama llama in that one, but hopefully you guys didn't die from teh fluff, so tune in next time!


	10. Chapter 10

When the two woke up, there were no words exchanged. Cartman quickly got up to shower and Kyle, after dazedly remembering where he was, frantically grabbed his phone to field any missed calls.

Mom: Kyle?! Where are you? You're in big trouble Mister!

Mom: Your father explained you were just spending the night at Stan's. You're not in trouble, but next time tell me where you're going as well and don't stay out all day.

Kyle checked the time on his phone. It was only 10:30AM so he still had plenty of time to get home.

Stan: Sorry about last night Kyle. I made it home this morning. What's up? I forgot to ask last night, but did your girl show up? I'm guessing not since you spent most of the night with me and Cartman. By the way, I really need to talk to you about that. Meet up before school on Monday?

Kyle was sort of nervous. What exactly did Stan need to talk to him about? Since when was hanging out with Stan and Cartman a big deal? That was what most of their weekend plans consisted of anyway, including Kenny most of the time, but not all of the time.

Kyle replied simply. Yeah that sounds fine. What exactly do you want to talk about?

Stan texted back quickly. It has to do with Cartman. So I guess you and Cartman.

Kyle hated the sound of this. Trust me. It's a misunderstanding, but sure I'll be there.

Stan's reply was a major red flag. Something tells me it's really not. There's something up with that look he was giving you when we were playing Truth or Dare. I just know it.

Kyle responded with a quick ok Stan and left it at that.

Cartman came out of the shower. "Hey Kyle, um you can use the shower too if you want."

Kyle had brought an extra pair of clothes with him to the party, so he agreed. "Sure." If Cartman wanted to act like him sleeping in his bed and cuddling up next to him for the second time wasn't a big deal at all, then fine, he wouldn't make a big deal out of it either.

Cartman's phone went off as he fell back onto his bed. He glanced at the screen; it was a text message from a number he didn't have saved into his phone. The text was short, but the message was clear.

Stay away from Kyle Broflovski or the consequences for you both will prove fatal.

He tried to call the number, but the call wouldn't go through. Cartman's hand was shaking he was so mad. 'Who the fuck did this mystery person think they are? Nobody threatens Eric Cartman or Kyle for that matter. It was definitely a little out of character for him to think this way, but he didn't care damn it.'

He entered the area code into his computer and searched for its origin since it wasn't a Colorado area code that he was certain of.

Kyle's text tone went off a few minutes later. Cartman was tempted to check Kyle's phone and see if it was the same person, but decided that he could just ask him. He was trying to get the boy to trust him, not piss him off. He smiled slightly. Things had definitely changed.

The water turned off in the shower and as Kyle emerged from the bathroom, Cartman cut right to the chase. "See if a weird number texted you."

Kyle would have replied sarcastically if he hadn't seen the worry in Cartman's face. He looked at his phone apprehensively. Sure enough there was a text from a very odd number.

Oh Kyle. Why make things so difficult? Stay away from Eric Cartman. It would be a shame for your sexy self to get hurt over someone like him.

Kyle swallowed nervously, "Yes I did. Did they threaten you too?"

The two traded phones. Cartman gripped Kyle's phone tightly and was tempted to throw it against the wall until he remembered it was indeed Kyle's. He handed the phone back to the Jewish boy. Cartman sat at the computer again as it pulled up the area the phone had been activated in. Kyle sat down beside him. "I want to help. They can't be messing with us like this."

Cartman shook his head, "It would be best if you didn't get involved. Actually, you should probably stop talking to me and just leave now." The words hurt Cartman to say, but if there was a chance he was putting Kyle in danger then he would have to be harsh.

"Cartman, no. I get what you're trying to do and it's commendable, but I can take care of myself. Where is the phone from?"

Cartman considered insulting and pissing Kyle off badly enough to leave, but a part of him just didn't want to do that. He didn't say anything for a while, staring at his computer screen.

"Do you want me to leave and not talk to you? If that's really what you want, then I'll fucking leave." Kyle was pissed off now. He hated being ignored.

"No that's not what I want." Cartman snapped. "But this worries me."

He paused for a minute and then continued. "I've pissed a lot of people off over the years, some a little, others a lot. Some of the people are dangerous. I'm not risking your safety over something I did. Don't take it as an insult, it's just me showing I…care." He looked down, visibly embarrassed.

Kyle smiled widely at him, "I know and that's, well don't bite my head off for this, but it's kind of sweet. I don't appreciate somebody threatening you either, though. That's why I want to help."

Cartman gave him a dirty look but was silent for a few minutes.

"Fine, annoying Jew. The area code is from Texas, which means I have no fucking clue who it is. If you're still stupid enough to want to talk to me after everything I've told you, then do it discreetly."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Douchebag. What do you mean?"

"As in, don't let anyone see our phone conversations or see us talking in public. It's probably some dumbass from school using a prepaid phone. I'm not sure about the Texas area code, but hopefully this will all blow over. Just don't be a dumbass about it."

Kyle raised his voice, "I'm not a dumbass! I was just trying to help you stupid."

He hated that it had resorted to arguing, but there was an element of familiarity both boys welcomed. Arguing was safe. Insults were safe. The atmosphere between the two had been quite strange lately and some of the tension appeared to have been diffused in the few argumentative moments.

The two immediately switched subjects and continued to make small talk, carefully avoiding talking about any conversation that could be too heavy or mentioning the texts.

"I'll be heading out now." Kyle said awkwardly. Cartman was still typing some stuff on his computer.

"Okay Jew, see you at school and remember, uh, take care of yourself and don't talk to me too much at school." Cartman didn't even look at Kyle, figuring the boy would just walk out of the room and leave.

"Well, aren't you going to at least see me out the door?" Kyle quipped.

Cartman rolled his eyes, but stood up. "Such a needy ginger." He said but Kyle didn't even bother getting annoyed because his tone of voice conveyed this was meant to be teasing, not insulting.

Cartman walked Kyle to the door, "Bye." He said simply.

Kyle just hugged him, pulling away when Cartman didn't hug him back. "What was that for Kyle?"

Kyle awkwardly crossed his feet and uncrossed them, "Stan and I always hug each other bye when we leave. It's kind of what friends do and I thought-" He was cut off by Cartman tightly hugging him.

When he pulled away, both boys cleared their throats awkwardly. Kyle turned to go, smiling when he heard Cartman's mumbled explanation. "I'm really new at this friends thing, dammit."

After Kyle left, Cartman continued trying to get an exact location on the phone number that had contacted them. All he could seem to pinpoint was that it was activated in Fort Worth, Texas and couldn't receive private calls. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something sinister about this contact, but since even his expert backtracking skills hadn't turned anything up, he decided to just relax on his bed for a while, enjoying the respite.

Kyle went straight home, steeling himself to be scolded for not telling his mom what was going on firsthand. He looked at his phone and, realizing the date, remembered he needed to go to the doctor to have a check up sometime the upcoming week. No one had contacted him and, since he had been hanging out with Cartman, had had no further fainting or struggling to breathe episodes. It was almost as if it had been from some sort of anxiety he didn't' know he was having and hanging out with Cartman more often had dissipated these problems. Kyle couldn't believe how hilarious the thought was. Cartman dissolving his stress? He had felt much more relaxed around the larger boy lately and, come to think of it, more relaxed in general. He realized that he figured his mom would scold him and was prepared for it, but wasn't stressed out about it at all. The thought made him happy. It was high time he could stand up to his mom and not worry about the consequences. He would be 17 next month; adulthood wasn't far away at all, she would just have to get over it.

Kyle walked in the door to his house, not slamming the door, but not easing it closed either. Sitting at the kitchen table were his mom and his brother. "Kyle, you're off the hook this time, but do you understand why I was so angry? When you don't tell me where you're going, anything could happen and what if your diabetes acts up? Or what if you're in an unsafe situation with that Cartman boy and he just abandons you? Anything could happen, we're just trying to look out for your best interests."

It was almost inhuman how quickly Mrs. Broflovski could speak when she wanted to, without even breathing at that.

Ike gave his brother an apologetic look as he tried to get up and go to his room. His mother physically pulled him back into a sitting position. "Ike I have something to say to you too, so stay put."

"Mom," Kyle was already exasperated, though he didn't fully agree with Cartman's opinion of his mom, 'that she was just a big fat bitch', 'she could indeed be bitchy and rarely listened to Kyle or Ike's explanations.'

"I told Dad where I was going, that should be good enough. I'm almost 17, I should be given some freedom. I've told you already; I keep my insulin on me at all times and we are not talking about Cartman right now." Kyle was impressed with his own confidence. Sometimes it really felt good to stand up to his mom.

"You get plenty of freedom, sweetie. I let you go to Stan's house once during the weekend, just about every weekend. Listen, Kyle," She continued, "your birthday is coming up and, well, I think we should talk about who is going to be allowed over and who isn't." Sheila spoke matter of factly like her word was the final word on basically everything, and, in her eyes, it probably was.

Kyle fought the urge to roll his eyes, 'freedom my ass'. "Go on. And what's Ike in trouble for anyway?"

"Ike got in trouble at school today for kissing a girl. It was very inappropriate and he will be punished accordingly."

Ike interrupted loudly, "Mom, stop making something out of nothing! I'll tell you what happened Kyle. I kissed the girl I like on the cheek and her ex boyfriend told on us. Since he's the teacher's favorite, he made up some fake story and got me sent to the principal, who called Mom since he has no clue what really happened. Filmore's backing me up on what happened and so is the girl, but clearly mom doesn't believe me." Ike looked both angry and embarrassed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't even know why it's a big deal, we're freaking 11."

"Watch your mouth, Ike." Sheila warned. "Plus it's a big deal because you could lose your scholarship."

Ike deadpanned, "I'm in 6th grade. I am not on scholarship as I go to a public school."

"Go to your room Ike!" Sheila hated arguing with her sons, thus this was her reaction when the argument didn't go in her favor.

Ike didn't move.

Kyle resisted the urge to tap his foot impatiently. He had a quiz tomorrow that he still wanted to review for. Why couldn't his mother just chill out every once in a while?

His mother turned her attention to Kyle, "I'll make this short. You can have your birthday party here like usual given a few rules. Rule #1: No alcohol or illegal substances of any sort. So if need be, your friend Kenny can stay home. Second, Eric Cartman will not set foot in this house. He has caused enough trouble over the years. Lastly, everyone must be out and the house cleaned by 9:00 PM."

Kyle felt his eye twitch. "I wouldn't dream of having alcohol or drugs here, Mom. Plus, Kenny doesn't do drugs anyway that's his parents. Eric, I mean Cartman's changed a lot lately. Give him a chance." Kyle felt slightly uncomfortable when he realized almost every conversation he had had with his mom lately had resulted in him defending his once enemy.

She pursed her lips, "My mind is made up Kyle. I'm very sorry." She didn't sound sorry at all.

Ike was planning to head to his room, but the nature of the conversation now had him intrigued. His older brother was defending Cartman. 'Did he actually want the racist fat fuck at his birthday?' This was an interesting development indeed. He sat silently, pretending to look at his nails, but secretly engrossed completely in the conversation.

"I do not mean to disrespect you Mom, but you're wrong about him. He's changed. If you let him come over, you would see that. Plus, he's been through a lot." Kyle stated evenly.

Sheila slammed her fist on the table, startling Ike and Kyle both. "What has he gone through Kyle?! If I didn't know better, I would say you were defending him because you LIKE him." She said in a threatening tone.

Kyle raised his voice only slightly. "That's not really your business and yes, I do like him. Since we started hanging out, he has been nothing but a good friend to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a quiz to study for." Kyle walked out without looking back at his mother.

Ike said loud enough for Kyle and his mother to hear him, "That was kickass."

His mother held her head in her hands, "I need an aspirin."

As she walked out of Ike's earshot, she mumbled to herself, "I refuse to let that boy victimize my son or my family. It's time somebody got their just desserts." A crazed smile swept over her face.

A/N: Review if it suits your fancy! Hopefully some errant plot bunnies will be tied up in the next few chapters. Feel free to guess which ones.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: On a personal note, I just got a great new job! It's in my field and will end up giving me more time to write since I won't be running around like a chicken with its head cut off to three different jobs. In celebration, I hope my lovely readers will enjoy this chapter.

Ike made sure his mother wasn't trying to eavesdrop then bounded up to his brother's room. Predictably, Kyle's door was closed. Ike knew exactly what this meant. He smirked to himself as he could picture his brother saying the exact words he was thinking, proceed with caution. Ike gently knocked on the door.

"Come in, Ike." Kyle called softly. Kyle was laid on his stomach across his bed, lazily looking at his phone.

Ike sheepishly walked in. "How did you know it was me?" Kyle laughed.

"Please! You know mom would not be knocking that softly. Besides dad had a late night meeting at the office tonight. What's up bro?"

Ike broke out into a huge smile, "I just wanted to tell you that was totally kickass how you handled mom's bullshit tonight." He slapped his older brother on the back who blushed lightly. "Ike you know you shouldn't talk like that, eh fuck it, thanks. I don't mean to disrespect her but you know as well as I do if we don't say anything she'll run all over us."

"True that," Ike agreed, "So Kyle, I have to ask, what was up with you defending Cartman earlier?"

Kyle picked this moment to focus intently on his touchscreen phone. He was silent for a breath, "She was saying some really bad things Ike."

Ike stared his brother down, 'not so much in a mean way as a what the fuck are you smoking kind of staring', "..Have you forgotten Cartman's said some pretty bad things to and about you too?" Ike really had no serious issue with Cartman. 'Sure, he was a racist selfish pig, but Stan was a whiny baby, and Kenny was a poor promiscuous bum, so it was just par for the course that Kyle's friends had issues.'

"He's changed Ike. I swear, I'll bring him around sometime this week and you'll see." Ike's eyebrows shot way up.

"I was just playing Devil's Advocate at first, but this I gotta see. Even with mom here? Haha, she'll flip her lid." Ike was unusually humored by pissing his mother off.

"Yes," Kyle said confidently, "with both mom and dad here. If he behaves well, maybe she'll even reconsider the birthday thing."

Ike was still skeptical, "Not sure why you're going this far for him." Kyle shot him a dirty look, "But hey, I've got your back, but what if she doesn't?"

Kyle ran his hand through his hair, "Well, we'll just have to change the location then." He grinned. Ike grinned back.

"I like the way you think, bro." He winked playfully.

Kyle swatted at Ike, "Now get out of here! I have studying to do, but first tell me about this girl."

"Poopsie, I'm home." Cartman perked up slightly as he walked downstairs.

"Hey mom." He smiled slightly at her. "Need any help with supper?" He really had been trying to be more supportive of her and less childish since she had gotten a real job and quit her little escapades..

She shook her head. "I like cooking sweetie, besides I want to make your favorite tonight so you just go watch TV while I prepare it." He smiled and went into the living room.

The next day was Monday. Kyle greeted Kenny and Cartman at the bus stop. Though he was thoroughly confused as to why Cartman hadn't driven, he decided against talking to him much because of the weird harassing texts. School was just as boring as usual. 'Garrison droned on and on about some celebrity bullshit that no one gave a shit about excluding Butters and Bebe'. The majority of the class either ended up falling asleep or texting not so discreetly from behind a textbook. The other classes weren't much better. Cartman got after school detention for insulting Mrs. Chokesondick for the millionth time to which he replied, Fuck all of you' then proceeded to flip her off and walk out of the classroom. Kyle rolled his eyes. God Cartman was immature, but somehow still decidedly cute. After he left the room, Kyle's phone buzzed. What's up this week Jew?

Kyle responded swiftly Not too much. Thank God there's no more group projects though I was getting tired of seeing you everyday lol They had surprisingly gotten an A+ on the last one though.

:P whateva. So are you free at all this week?

Kyle was fully smiling at this point. Stan made a noise of irritation. "Kyle stop texting your little girlfriend. School's not over yet." Ah, he was probably still in a foul mood from the failed party, plus Wendy currently wasn't talking to him because someone *cough* Butters *cough* had told her Stan had called Bebe a stupid skank. 'Act like one get treated like one' was the extent to Kyle's feelings on the matter.

Kyle ignored Stan as best he could and replied again …Actually I wanted to see if you wanted to come over for dinner sometime. My mom might be a little rough, but she's a damn good cook.

Let me get this straight, you're inviting me to dinner. Just me? And your mom's going to be there?

Kyle received this text and fought the urge to blush. "Umm, K-Kyle, you're going to get in trouble for texting in class you know?' Butters smiled innocently. Kyle looked slightly embarrassed. "Not now Butters. It's uh important."

My whole family's going to be there. And when you say it like that it makes it sound awkward. But you're in right?

Cartman replied almost instantly, Sure I'll be there. Just make sure it's nothing too weird. What day?

How about Wednesday night so we can work together on the homework that's built up this week?

Done, Jew. See you then!

"Kyle Broflovski, this is your final warning." Mrs. Chokesondick slapped her ruler across her desk threateningly. "Unless you want to read your whole text conversation aloud I suggest you pay attention. Sheesh, I don't get paid enough for this piss poor job."

The bell rang not a moment too soon. Hell, Craig and Tweek were out the door before the bell had even rang, something about Tweek running out of coffee again. Craig was always so patient with Tweek, it was almost adorable.

"God I thought she'd never shut up." Kyle said to both Kenny and Stan, but only Kenny replied. Stan seemed to be ignoring him. "Stan what's wrong?" Kyle knew this afternoon he and Stan were supposed to have their talk but Stan seemed so distant. Was Stan closer to the truth than Kyle had guessed?

Stan finally spoke. "Meet me in my car. We'll drive to our usual spot at Stark's before we discuss anything."

"Okay." The ride there was unusually silent. On any other occasion the two best friends would be chatting along amicably, the lack of talking sincerely bothered Kyle but he respected Stan's wishes.

As Stan's truck pulled in between the trees, Kyle could take it no more. "What's your deal Stan?! Giving me the silent treatment, how freaking mature."

Stan turned to him. He gulped before continuing. "Kyle, please don't lie to me."

"Stan what's this about?" The redhead decided that no matter what Stan asked he would tell the truth. He owed him that much as his best friend.

"Is Cartman blackmailing you into being his friend again? I, looked at your phone in class today and saw you invited him to dinner. You can tell me the truth; we'll figure out a way to get him out of your hair and get back at him if he has some sort of dirt on you." Stan relaxed some after he had finished.

Kyle looked incredulous. He then burst out laughing. "Stan! You have it all wrong. Cartman's not blackmailing me into doing anything. I invited him to dinner of my own free will. I kind of like hanging out with him." Before Stan could interject, Kyle continued, "I'm not exactly sure what changed but his behavior towards me has done a total 180 lately. He's nice, he's friendly, hell he barely even insults me anymore."

Stan looked relieved Kyle wasn't being blackmailed, but was still unconvinced. " Now that you mention it, you're actually right. But how sure are you this isn't another one of his schemes? We both know you're way too good-hearted to him sometimes. Not sure at all why, though."

Kyle decided in this moment that he would be completely honest with Stan about his sexuality, too, just not that he was quickly developing feelings for Cartman. One little step at a time, Kyle.

"I don't know, Stan. I just honestly think he's genuine this time. But I do need to tell you something else. You have to swear not to tell a single person, not even Kenny or Wendy."

Stan smiled, "Why do you think I brought us here? This is our super secret best friends place." He said childishly, but endearingly.

"Okay, well, I think I'm gay. Not bisexual, but straight gay. No pun intended." Kyle closed his eyes, not sure at all how Stan would react.

"Are you sure Kyle? What about that girl you told me about?" Stan wasn't angry or repulsed, just shocked.

"She is actually a he."

Stan's eyes widened. "Kyle you know you're my best friend no matter what right? I won't judge you at all for being gay. Like who you want to. Date who you want to. You have my full support as long as they treat you right."

Kyle wasn't so sure that Stan would extend that graceful acceptance to Cartman, but since right now it was just a crush he decided this was good enough.

"Thanks Stan," Kyle said relieved. He then awkwardly extended his hand in a handshake. Stan shoved his hand out of the way and hugged him. "Dude you're like a brother to me. Look at me. Nothing has changed, okay? Looks like it's getting late, I'll swing by and maybe catch dinner with you and your family okay?"

Kyle smiled, wiping away a few tears. He was so lucky to have Stan as his best friend. "That sounds perfect."

Meanwhile at the Broflovski residence, Sheila was speaking in hushed undertones on the phone even though the rest of her family wasn't home.

"No! I don't want you hurting Kyle! Do you understand me?! But I want that Cartman boy taught a lesson by any means you deem fit. I don't want to see him anywhere near my house either."

The person from the other end replied boredly, "You're paying me very well, but you do realize his house is right beside yours right? So technically that would be near your house. Unless you want me to kill him? That will be a little extra though, even considering our past history. Murder cover up isn't easy."

Sheila gasped but was silent for a bit. _Sure, she hated him, but would she want murder on her hand_s?

"For now, just teach him a lesson. Refrain from killing him. I'll be in touch." She hung up the phone with shaking hands. Sheila held her hands over her face; she wasn't crying but she was in a bad place emotionally that was certain. She spoke aloud in an attempt to console herself, "I'm doing the right thing. I'm just being a good mother."

She glanced at the clock. She had about 20 minutes to compose herself before Kyle and Ike would be home from school. _Time to start dinner._


	12. Chapter 12

A/n: No internet which means no Fanfiction or southparkstudios. The least I can do is write. Also, this is a hint as to why this fic is rated M, besides the language of course. I hope it doesn't disappoint. Enjoy!

Kyle texted his mom while he and Stan were driving over. He knew from past experiences that his mom would be more than happy to set an extra plate out for Stan, a text was more than sufficient notice.

Stan suddenly realized something, "Do your parents know?" Kyle shook his head vigorously. "And I intend to keep it that way indefinitely. They would freak out and disown me."

Stan replied smoothly, "Your mom definitely might, but I think your dad would be accepting."

Kyle clicked his teeth together thoughtfully as Stan's truck pulled into his house's driveway. "You might be right on that one, but that's who I'm worried about Stan. My mom has always had this idea in her head that I will marry a pretty, smart Jewish girl and have lots of perfectly Jewish children with her. Oh, and that I will be a lawyer, that she's pretty dead set on too." Kyle looked a bit perplexed as he finished speaking.

Stan smiled sympathetically. "I know you want to be a surgeon Kyle. What I don't understand is why your mom has such a problem with it. Surgeons can make just as much if not more than lawyers. Plus, not everybody's a kid person."

Kyle cut in before they stepped out of the truck, "Money isn't her concern, neither is what I want. She wants me to be as normal, boring, and cookie cutter as possible. Or as she says," he imitated her nasally voice at this point, "We only want what's best for you Kyle."

They ended the conversation and walked through the door. "Hey mom, we're here."

"Smells amazing Mrs. Broflovski," Stan complimented. Why couldn't Cartman be as flattering and kind to his family as Stan, Kyle thought. Then again, maybe he'll prove all of us wrong Wednesday. 'Ha'.

Sheila now looked completely normal. Her mind was still on her earlier conversation as she wondered if she had done the right thing. The person hadn't even specified how they would teach Cartman a lesson, hopefully it was something harsh enough to keep him away from Kyle.

Gerald was working late at the office and Ike was still grounded for "inappropriate behavior", so dinner was pleasant but silent.

Kyle decided in front of Stan was the best time to bring up the Cartman dinner. "Hey mom, what are your plans for Wednesday?"

Sheila smiled sweetly, "No plans right now. How come bubbie?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could have a friend over for dinner."

She continued to smile a smile that Stan couldn't help think was either fake or forced. "You know Stanley is always welcome here, anytime."

Stan could tell the conversation was about to go south, so he turned his full attention to the potatoes and gravy that remained on his plate. 'Nope, fuck that shit, I'm not getting in the middle of this. Kyle you're my bro but your mom can be downright frightening.'

"It's," Kyle cleared his throat, "not Stan mom, it's Eric." Kyle wasn't even 100% sure why he had said Eric instead of Cartman. He guessed it was subconscious, but since they were getting closer, Eric seemed like an okay name to use, every once in a while.

"Eric Cartman?" Sheila deadpanned. Stan was getting really up close and personal with his potatoes while Kyle was steeling himself for a reaction of epic proportions.

She sighed heavily, her voice retaining only a hint of venom, "You're not letting this go are you Kyle? Fine, have him over for dinner! But the first backhanded insult or poorly veiled racial slur and you will both regret this, got it?!" She threw her hands up as she stood up to busily clear the dishes.

Kyle released a breath, thinking she was done. But before he could thank her, she turned on Stan.

"Stanley, you're a straight edged boy." Was it just him or had she put extra emphasis on the word straight for some strange reason? No, Kyle tried to calm his rapidly beating heart, that had to be his imagination.

"Has the Cartman boy changed towards you?"

Why did she have to do this right now and spur of the moment too? Just my freaking luck. Stan decided to tell the truth. "Truthfully, he acts the same towards me but I have noticed him being a lot kinder towards Kyle. They worked on that project together you know? Plus, Cartman doesn't make racist jokes hardly ever anymore." Okay the last part was an outright lie, though he hadn't heard anything directed at Kyle in at least 3 weeks, Cartman still loved his black and gay jokes.

"Hmm," Sheila responded passively. "Thank you. I know I can trust you Stanley." She looked pointedly at Kyle.

Kyle rolled his eyes, "Let's go up to play video games."

"Sorry man, I have to leave, Wendy's supposed to call later and since I'm still in the doghouse I might want to actually answer this time. See you later Kyle." They hugged and Stan left.

Kyle felt uncomfortable. His mom continued to stare intensely at him. "What?"

She pursed her lips, "Nothing. I just hope you know what's best for you and don't get sidetracked by anything or anyone."

'How fucking informative. Without another word he went up to his room to play video games alone.

He decided to text Cartman a little. The friendly banter turned questionable about the fourth text.

"So what are you going to wear Wed?" Kyle asked.

Nothing. Jk whatever I want to wear, didn't know this was formal.

Kyle blushed at the thought of Cartman wearing nothing even though he knew he was just kidding. He didn't know what to say back, luckily Cartman texted again.

What are you wearing right now?

Kyle responded, pajamas…creep. Lol

You ruined it. Lol you have to be more descriptive. Anyway we're not going to that Jewish church thing after we eat or something are we? Because I'm pretty sure it would burst in flames if I went in there. XD

Kyle laughed aloud. You mean the synagogue? And nah only once a week on Saturday is more than enough, believe me haha.

Kyle felt bold, and since you asked so nicely. I'm wearing long cotton bottoms and a metallica t shirt.

Cartman's face flushed as he imagined Kyle sitting on the bed wearing that. He felt slightly aroused from the thought alone, just think what a picture would do. Cartman smacked himself lightly in the face. 'Fuck. My. Life.'

He knew he shouldn't, like seriously. At all. But he couldn't resist. He took out a few pictures he had of Kyle at a distance and slowly began stroking himself. 'God why did the ginger have to be so damn enticing?!' He kept his moans soft or silent but began increasing his pace. His phone buzzed, demanding his attention elsewhere.

Did I make that too weird? I figured you were just kidding. My bad?

'Kyle was too fucking cute for his own good'. Nah nah lol just got distracted. What do you want to talk about?

Kyle decided one last bold question couldn't hurt. What are you wearing? He held his breath. 'Now watch him get called a flaming faggot. Real smooth Kyle.'

The response was better than Kyle had hoped, Just black gym shorts.

Kyle was slightly turned on by this but decided not to appear shocked by the response and talk about something else.

What do you do for fun, besides hang out with us and stuff? Kyle realized how lame this sounded only after he had sent it but oh well he wanted to know.

Party and get laid LMAO. By you in my dreams Cartman mentally added. That was only partially accurate. Anything with Kyle he wouldn't want to be a one time thing. He knew for thinking this that it made him such a pansy but he really didn't care.

Kyle laughed seriously?

Don't steal my word! But no just chill with Mr. Kitty or photography stuff. U?

Whatever, and pretty much study or get in trouble. You know how my mom is. But you'll have to show me your photography sometime even though it probably sucks.

Aye! It's really good I'll have you know. And ummm maybe. Anyways it's getting late. Goodnight Kyle.

I'll be the judge of that and goodnight Eric. Kyle decided he would test the waters over text and if he wasn't cursed out before the dinner for calling him Eric then maybe he would call him that more often. Come to think of it, he wasn't entirely sure why they didn't just call him Eric. He fell asleep musing over Cartman's potential reaction, too scared of his mom walking in to take care of his little problem.

Cartman wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. Kyle had actually called him Eric, albeit it was over text, but maybe this meant something. Unfortunately, his erection had come back full force with Kyle's interest in his photography and using his actual name, just the thought of his name on Kyle's lips turned him on further. He took out some more of his photographs, not that he really needed them. The redhead haunted most of his dreams anyway. This was the reason he really didn't want Kyle to see them or know much about them period. The pictures were mostly of him. Some were of him sleeping, others were group pictures, and a few were at a distance. He knew having these made him a total stalker and beyond any help, but he decided he had passed that point a while back. The ones that weren't of Kyle were of Cartman himself, Mr. Kitty, or Cartman and his mom.

His favorite one that he had was a rare one taken about a year ago when Stan had gone through another emo phase and only hung out with the goth kids. Kenny had been balls deep in some random chick at the time, so Kyle was the only one in the group to hang out with. The particular photo was of the two of them at Stark's pond. Kyle was laughing and had his arm loosely, almost possessively around Cartman's shoulder. Cartman was smiling slightly in the picture. After this fun time, they had gone back to acting like enemies but Cartman hoped that never happened again. He hoped this time, against all hope, that he himself could truly be Kyle's friend and that Kyle was genuinely giving him a chance as well.

He decided just to try to sleep his boner off when he heard his mom still washing dishes downstairs.

Kyle had come over at a moment's notice. Cartman was sick and in bed complaining of being cold. Kyle happily got in bed to warm him up, muttering sweet things to him and touching him everywhere. One thing led to another, Kyle's mouth was on his dick. He was bobbing back and forth, deepthroating him senselessly. A huge wave of pleasure went through Cartman, before climaxing, he yanked Kyle's pants off and returned the favor, thoroughly enjoying the sensation of the smaller boy's member in his throat. They switched positions so the two could both be pleasured, Kyle began sucking him off while he returned the favor simultaneously. They came together. The two always snuggled afterwards because this wasn't their first time. Cartman stared into the green eyes that he loved so much and then he kissed Kyle passionately. The redheaded boy kissed back with just as much fervor. "I love you Kyle, with all my heart." Cartman confessed passionately.

"I love you too Eric." Kyle replied with just as much conviction.

Cartman awoke panting, with a throbbing in his dick and an emptiness in his heart. It was the same dream most nights and 'it would always only be that, just a fucking dream.'

A/N: How was it? No, seriously let me know. The worst you can say is it's horrible and I'll cry, no but I've never done lemon/lime/anything so honesty is best. I will say it's choppy and fast paced because it's a dream and I don't want anyone thinking it's real for too long. XD Also, I feel like Cartman's really angsty but my idea is that he's trying desperately not to screw things up with the guy he loves and has for a while, while thinking the object of his affection only thinks of him at best as a friend. So, he's going to have some emotional turmoil, understandably.


	13. Chapter 13

It was finally Wednesday and Kyle was so tightly wound up that every little thing freaked him out. Today was the day Cartman came home with him for dinner. 'Why the hell had he invited him again?' Oh yeah, besides the fact he had a huge crush on him, to prove a point to his mother. God when was that ever a good idea?

Stan noticed Kyle's edgy behavior and commented on it as quietly as he could, "Dude, chill out. What's with you today?"

Kyle gave him a look and then scribbled down on his paper, family dinner thing: Cartman. Stan must have "Oh-ed" too loudly because Mr. Garrison called them both out.

"Is there something you would like to share with the entire class Stanley and Kyle?" Mr. Garrison sounded bored and like he couldn't care less, but truthfully he would have no problem telling them to read aloud whatever was written down or better yet walking down there and snatching it from them.

"Nothing, sorry." Both boys said.

Mr. Garrison looked like he didn't believe them but continued teaching, if that's what you wanted to call his lecture on who had and had not had boob jobs.

After school Kyle found Cartman sneaking out around the buildings and shot him a WTF expression. Cartman shook his head and grabbed Kyle's arm. "I guess we're walking to my house then." Cartman kept looking over his shoulder and didn't release Kyle's arm the whole time they were walking. This gave Kyle a warm feeling inside.

"Sorry, just felt like we were being watched." Apparently that was all the explanation he was getting from Cartman. They stopped at a grocery store on the way to Kyle's where Cartman went inside with a duffel bag, telling Kyle to wait outside.

"No, I am not letting you rob this store. Can we just have one normal fucking day please?" Kyle was panicky, considering this was something Cartman had done a few times and probably would attempt again.

Cartman gave him a confused look, "Um, I'm changing clothes dipshit, not robbing the store. You Jews are so paranoid." He smirked telling Kyle to pretend to look at movies while he changed.

"Fatass." Kyle said irritated only slightly at the Jew comment. He decided to look at video games so as to not look suspicious just standing around.

Cartman walked out wearing his standard jacket, hat, and black slacks. "What was the point of changing if you're just going to wear that ugly jacket?"

"Che, what are you, the fashion police? Just chill." Cartman continued to lead the way to Kyle's house.

Kyle walked in first, "You go upstairs to my room. I'll tell my mom you're here so you don't freak her out too much."

Cartman complied without any snide remarks, surprisingly.

"Hey mom," Kyle called to her, "just wanted to let you know Cartman's here and we're ready whenever you are."

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not but his mother looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"Mom?" Kyle asked worriedly.

She nodded and turned to continue cooking.

Cartman insisted on staying in Kyle's room until the meal was ready and everyone else was at the table, so Kyle begrudgingly allowed it. "Stubborn bastard." Kyle huffed.

Though part of Ike's punishment was not being allowed meals in the family room, he was joining the family for dinner tonight at Kyle's request. Gerald arrived and took a seat immediately beside Sheila with Ike beside her leaving only two seats left.

"Dinner's ready!" Sheila called, looking slightly cheerier than usual Kyle noticed. You could never really tell with her what mood she would be in from one minute to the next.

All of the Broflovskis were sitting at the table. Kyle had just texted Cartman who insisted on him doing so once the meal was ready. 'Probably some bullshit grand entrance. How unnecessary' Kyle mused.

Cartman entered the room, causing Kyle's jaw to drop. Cartman's hair was slicked back neatly, he wore a dark green tie and a suit top with black slacks and what appeared to be freshly shined shoes. By the time Kyle realized he was staring, he closed his mouth and cleared his throat, hoping everyone else's attention had been on Cartman as well.

"Good evening all." Cartman said as he took the seat across from Kyle.

The group ate in mostly silence with Cartman mostly eating and Gerald attempting conversation weakly. Once Cartman was done with his food, though, he joined the conversation wholeheartedly much to Kyle's initial chagrin.

Surprisingly enough, Cartman and his dad carried on a decent enough conversation involving legal matters and affairs. Kyle was impressed but had to remind himself that his dad had studied law, but Cartman had probably gleaned most of his knowledge from his own encounters with the police.

Ike didn't say much just had a Cheshire cat grin on his face the whole meal. "So Cartman who are you taking to the school dance?"

Cartman choked on his drink, trying to play it off and failing miserably. Sheila shot him a disapproving look that was not lost on Gerald who sighed audibly. Kyle just wanted to disappear, not quite sure why Cartman was embarrassed by the question considering he could probably find a nice girl to go with.

He coughed one last time and looked meaningfully at Ike. "I'm too cool for dances. Just FYI, kid."

Ike's expression didn't change, "Well make sure you buy your special girl some flowers and chocolate, specifically sugar free chocolate. Not all girls can eat normal candy."

Cartman just raised an eyebrow at Ike, missing the reference completely. "Uh huh."

Kyle tried to keep his expression blank. 'What the literal fuck.' Ike nudged Kyle under the table gently. 'He was fucking serious'. Ike thought they were dating, 'damn it all to hell.'

Kyle shot him a dirty look that said you're dead meat. "So Eric, um, how are classes this time?" 'God his dad was so fucking awkward. At least he was trying though.'

"Very well, thanks for asking Mr. Broflovski."

"Please call me Gerald." Kyle's dad said while smiling.

"You know you can be quite a charming boy."

Kyle felt like he was dreaming. No way was his dad actually liking Cartman.

Ike nudged Kyle under the table one last time and then looked pointedly at Cartman, "Take good care of the lucky girl." He used air quotes around the word girl, then laughed and excused himself.

Sheila shook her head. "Sometimes I really worry about that boy."

Cartman decided to take the plunge. He really didn't like Sheila that much was obvious. He had done everything from make crude drawings of her to write songs about how much he hated her. Childish, yes, but effective, also yes. 'However, if he wanted a snowball's chance in hell with Kyle he would have to at least be nice to Sheila Broflovski.' The thought made him want to vomit in his mouth a tad bit, but he swallowed the bile down and proceeded anyway.

"Mrs. Broflovski, your food is quite excellent. How has your day been might I ask?"

Kyle turned his attention to the vegetable soup his mother had made, yep staying out of this one for sure.

"Why thank you. It's been fair I must say." She smiled faintly, "So has your mother found an actual job yet, one that doesn't require such lewd services?"

"Sheila, that's a very inappropriate question." Gerald corrected calmly.

Kyle shot a worried look in Cartman's direction. 'The only thing he genuinely hated more than being called fat was when people called his mom a slut. He's going to totally lose his shit.'

"Actually, she works two jobs, one at a bank and the other at a 24 hour doctor's office as a receptionist."

"Okay, I think that's enough dinner for one night." Kyle moved to push himself away from the table dramatically, hoping Cartman would take the hint.

Sheila stared long and hard at Cartman, looking for a dark look to pass over his face or waiting for him to say something rude or out of turn. He never did.

"If nothing else your acting has improved." Sheila said spitefully.

Cartman was about to cuss her out, but Kyle intervened. "Wow, unbelievable. Yeah this meal is over, let's go up to my room Cartman."

"Did I give him permission to go up there?" Sheila asked in a high pitched tone.

Cartman couldn't help thinking that the woman had serious issues. He had just witnessed three different mood swings of hers over dinner alone. He knew he was crazy, 'but damn how did Kyle put up with this on a daily basis?'

"No, but I just did. Come on." Kyle grabbed Cartman's elbow and began dragging him upstairs. "Thanks for dinner." Cartman awkwardly said. Gerald smiled then turned to his wife in undertones after the door was closed.

"Sheila, are you alright?" He looked with concern at his wife.

She nodded vigorously.

"Are you really alright? I know you don't like that boy, but that's Kyle's friend and you should be more civil. Implying his mother is a slut over dinner when he did nothing wrong, that's highly unlike you."

"I didn't get much sleep last night." Was her only reply.

Gerald's worried expression didn't wane. "I think you need to go back to that doctor, at least consider taking the medicine."

She looked weary. "That doctor is full of it. Multiple personality disorder? What a joke. I'm just tired, don't worry honey."

He sighed, "Alright, you go on to bed. I'll clean up the dishes, okay?"

Cartman was really pissed off as he tried to calm his breathing down. Kyle was pissed as well but didn't care to calm down. "I can't believe her, we were having a semi decent meal and then she decides to be a bitch!" He exploded.

Cartman was quite touched at Kyle's concern. He shook his head, "It's not that big of a deal, she doesn't have much of a reason to like me anyway I guess." He was still angry though.

"No! That doesn't make it okay, you did nothing wrong. She makes me sick sometimes!" Kyle slammed his fist against the wall not caring if she or the whole house heard.

"Calm down Kyle, your hair color is showing." He laughed slightly.

Kyle looked utterly confused and just burst into laughter himself.

"What was the deal with your brother at dinner by the way? Little dildo was even weirder than usual."

"How many times do I have to tell you don't call him that!? But I really have no idea. He is a bit of a weirdo honestly."

"It's because he's Canadian. Trust me on this one, Canadian and a Jew, setup to be a freak. He was doomed from birth." Cartman said seriously.

Kyle dismissed the comment for the most part, "It's really not, but thanks for cutting out the Jew jokes at dinner and trying to be nice to my mom. I was so worried about you fucking up I didn't even think she would be the problem, so um sorry."

Kyle looked uncomfortable. "There there, it's not a big deal. I might be a sociopath, but she's a big fat bitch. No fixing bitchiness." Cartman said in what was meant to be a soothing tone.

"You're crazy." Kyle said, almost fondly.

"And you love it." Cartman winked at him, catching him completely off guard.

"Why'd you dress up by the way? It wasn't formal or anything."

Cartman straightened his tie and pretended to fix his hair, "I have to make a good impression on the parents if I plan to hang around more right?"

Kyle nodded, trying to hide his euphoria. "Well, I think it worked." He was risking a bit with the next comment, "For what it's worth, you look nice." The floor was suddenly very interesting for the redhead.

Cartman sounded incredulous, "Seriously?" At first Kyle thought he was trying to pick on him but when he finally did look up he could tell Cartman was being honest. He really didn't know he looked good.

"Yes, seriously." Kyle leaned towards him slightly, nudging him playfully in the side. Cartman's face turned red. His words ran out together in a rush, "You can eat with me next, but you have to dress up okay?"

Kyle smiled as he rested his head on Cartman's shoulder lazily. "It's a date then." He said before he even thought about it, both boys blushed at the same time, too nervous to make eye contact with each other. "What I meant to say was, God that sounded so damn gay." Kyle rambled.

"Yeah, really faggy, but yeah I knew what you meant, sounds good."

Very, very slowly, Cartman reached for Kyle's hand, maybe he could show him without words that he was interested that way if he was rejected it wouldn't be too obvious. Maybe Kyle would finally get that he was interested in him.

Right as he was about to hold Kyle's hand, the door flung open, revealing an angry Sheila Broflovski. "Eric your mom is on the phone she said she's coming to get you in 15." She slammed the door back hard. Well that moment just got ruined, Cartman thought.

"How did you get your hair to look like that without hairspray?" Kyle asked as he ran his hands through Cartman's hair. "It's not hard or anything. Very soft."

Cartman remembered the dream from the night before and prayed he didn't get a hard-on. "I just use a bit of leave in conditioner, nothing special."

Kyle kept touching his hair for a bit longer. "I like it. I wish mine would do that."

Cartman turned towards Kyle and their cheeks bumped since Kyle had laid his head back on his shoulder. "Sorry-" Kyle began.

"It's fine." Cartman was trying to stay calm. 'Kyle's lips were so close but so fucking far away.'

A car horn honked from outside. "That must be my mom, my place next time, then?"

"Yeah," Kyle smiled as he hugged Cartman tightly and probably a little too long but since Cartman hugged back he decided this wasn't a bad thing. He smelled amazing.

Cartman left quickly without much more ado. "So, tell me again how you don't like Cartman." Ike said smirking playfully from the doorway.

Kyle jumpd then glanced around quickly, "Keep your voice down and get in here."

Ike laughed, "Oh God. You should have seen your face. He's already gone and mom is downstairs. Obviously I won't blow your cover. But are you dating for real?!"

Ike was so excited, but Kyle was going to have to burst his bubble, "I don't know what you're talking about. And those comments at dinner what the hell, Ike?"

Ike crossed his arms and laid back on Kyle's bed. "Kyle, please. I saw you two snuggling on the bed and then the looks he kept giving you during dinner, plus his self control when mom was well being mom."

"So, let me get this straight, you spied on us in my room and then stared at him during dinner. It sounds like you have a thing for Cartman yourself."

"Calm your tits Kyle, I don't have a thing for your man."

"He's not my man, Ike. Shut up."

"The color of your face says differently." Ike loved picking on his older brother.

Ike continued lightly knowing he was treading on thin ice, "All I'm saying is that he came for dinner, put on his best suit and behavior all to impress you I'm guessing. So if you like him too, I'm saying you should go for it. He's crazy about you."

Kyle fought to keep a lovestruck smile off of his face, "We're just friends."

Ike smiled, "Okay, but maybe my little comment about the dance will change that." He walked out.

Ugh, Kyle slapped his forehead. But then again, maybe so.

A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the update, looks like chapters will be getting longer. Hope you like the length!


	14. Chapter 14

Kyle went to school the next day not thinking much of anything interesting would happen, after all, it was a Thursday. He was looking forward to seeing his friends and Cartman however, bound and determined not to look like a bumbling idiot in front of him. Unfortunately, first period went by and he didn't show up. Though he tried to hide it, apparently his disappointment was blatantly obvious to both Stan and Kenny.

"What's on your mind, Kyle?" Stan asked in between whispering to Wendy about some sensual weekend plans.

Kenny tsked loudly, "Isn't it obvious? I'm sure a certain chunky friend of ours is precisely what's on his mind, am I right?"

Kyle blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about at all Kenny. Don't you have Shelley to go harass?" Stan looked a bit annoyed at the comment while Kenny only grinned.

"That's after hours fun, silly Kyle, behind closed doors only."

Stan looked slightly pissed as he leaned away from Wendy slightly, "Watch your mouth that's my sister you're talking about." Wendy grabbed his hand and moved it down to her upper thigh.

"You're sister's almost 19," she whispered, "I highly doubt she needs her kid brother policing her sex life. Just like we don't want her policing ours."

Stan blushed heavily and backed off of Kenny.

Kyle cleared his throat, "I was just wondering where Cartman was though, in case anyone cares."

Wendy piped up further accentuating Kyle's fears, "You raise a good point Kyle. Cartman is always at school no matter what, whether it's just to insult people or play pranks, he wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Maybe he's just sick or something." Kyle said more to reassure himself than anyone else. Most of his friends didn't seem too concerned. Stan deigned not to comment on it, whereas Kenny had his phone out seeming to have missed the conversation entirely.

Kenny commented slyly, "Well I guess we can either draw straws to decide who has to check on him after school or you could just do it since you're the one all worked up over it."

Kyle huffed crossing his arms, "All I'm saying is that he was perfectly fine yesterday at my house and now he's not at school."

"Meow!" Kenny shrieked, "I didn't know he had it in him, get it Cartman!"

Kyle flipped Kenny off in a very Craig-like fashion. "Fuck off, Kenny! This is serious!"

"Well, just text him I guess. Now excuse me." Kenny ran off to go text or sext or whatever Stan's sister.

Kyle rolled his eyes thoroughly frustrated at this point. He turned down to his phone and sent a simple yet forward text, "Yo, are you skipping again?"

"If I don't hear back from him in a bit, I'm heading over there after school." Kyle stated in Stan's general direction.

Stan pulled away from his intense lip lock with Wendy, "Kyle seriously fatass is probably fine, but yeah if you're that worried go over there." Stan didn't sound remotely amused and neither did Wendy but she said nothing thank God.

Kyle's phone then rang. 'Cartman's calling me? During school hours? What the hell'. The news he heard when he answered made his heart skip a beat. "Kyle, hon, this is Liane. I just wanted to tell you that Eric had an accident last night. We're not 100% sure what happened but he is in his room resting right now, you're welcome to come visit after school if you like."

Kyle didn't respond for a beat. "Are you still there Kyle?"

"Y-y-yes Ms. Cartman, sorry yeah I'll come over after school."

"My little Eric will enjoy your visit I assure you. See you then."

Kyle stared at the phone stupidly long after Liane had hung up. Wendy had gotten agitated at all the students walking by staring at her and Stan making out so had opted for leaving and finishing up some homework early instead of continuing having her privacy invaded.

Stan noticed Kyle frozen looking at his phone. "Kyle? What did Cartman say to you? You're white as a sheet."

"He's been in an accident. He's not at school because he got hurt." Kyle seemed detached a sure sign signaling Stan that he was borderline freaking out.

"Slow down. Are you sure this isn't just one of his schemes to trick you into coming over? And don't bite my head off either, I'm just looking out for my bro."

Kyle shook his head furiously. "No Stan! That was his mom! She wouldn't just call and lie to me. As a matter of fact what time is it?"

Stan glanced at his phone screen. "1 on the nose about time for lunch to end, why?"

"Wait, you're not actually considering ditching school to check on Cartman are you?"

Kyle blushed. "Well somebody needs to check on him and um I'm busy after school."

Stan clicked his teeth conspiratorially, "Something fishy's going on here and I fully intend to find it out." His eyes narrowed dangerously at Kyle. The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and the beginning of the personal hell that was 4th period with Mr./Mrs. Garrison and Mr./Mrs. Hat. Yup, you read that right Mr. freaking Hat had had a sex change as well.

"But first, let me not miss another class, text me dude." Stan high fived him. Kyle waited until most of the students had trailed out of the hallways into classrooms, then glanced around an empty hallway making a mad dash for the exit only to be stopped by Mr. Mackey, well after almost barreling into him.

"Kyle Broflovski where are you going in such a hurry, mkay?"

"Sorry, Mr. Mackey. I have to run home to get my book. I just forgot it today."

Mr. Mackey grinned and patted him on the back, "Well, I won't trouble you anymore Kyle. You're my most honest and trustworthy student to date, see you later mkay."

Mr. Mackey reentered his office without so much of a backwards glance at Kyle.

'Great, now I feel like a terrible person'. Kyle swallowed his disappointment in himself and bolted as soon as he was safely out of the school building, straight for Cartman's house.

He knocked firmly on the door in which he guessed was a desperate fashion but decided he couldn't care less at this point. Liane opened the door quickly, "Hi there Kyle, Eric is upstairs in his bed, shouldn't be sleeping just head right on up there."

Kyle bit his tongue to avoid asking Liane all types of questions that were weighing heavily on his mind. How could Cartman have gotten hurt if he had gotten picked up from Kyle's the night before?

He entered Cartman's room after lightly knocking and getting the affirmation to come in. What he saw took his breath away. Eric Cartman was lying in his bed shirtless with a bandage wrapped around his chest and another one wrapped around his arm as well as one around his head. He had many cuts and bruises littering his body.

"Eric, what happened?" Kyle blurted out before he even thought much about it.

Cartman smiled faintly at Kyle's presence and even more at the use of his first name, 'fuck it was sexy when Kyle said it.'

However his expression grew dark at Kyle's question. He patted the side of his bed and motioned Kyle over. Kyle complied curiously. He beckoned for Kyle to lean in to whisper something in his ear.

Cartman spoke in a tone that Kyle could only barely hear, "I told my mom I fell out the window trying to get something off the ledge but this was no accident. Someone broke into my house last night after we got back home, caught me off guard, and pushed me out of the window. Luckily, nothing was broken just scratched up and bruised."

Kyle gasped audibly, "Did you see your attacker?! You should tell the police. We have to catch whoever did this to you."

Cartman patted his arm gently with his good arm, "Easy Jew, didn't know you cared so much, but seriously you need to stay away from me I feel pretty confident this is a not so subtle warning for me to stay away from you."

Kyle looked sad then grew confident, "I'm not staying away from you, Eric. That's not how I am. We're going to find out who is doing this and put a stop to it. Together." The intense look in Kyle's green eyes plus the certain way he had said together made Cartman's heart leap with joy.

Cartman ignored the butterflies in his stomach for the most part, "Kyle you should know. Scott's involved. As in Scott Tenorman. He mentioned before he pushed me that he hated me but that what he's doing is part of a job. I had kind of pieced together he was involved last night but the job part is throwing me off. He's getting paid to keep us apart. Who would do such a thing? I don't think he is anymore but Clyde was likely involved too, with the bit about not being paid enough."

The only possible answer Kyle had was either a seriously misguided love interest not that either of them had those, except for each other unbeknownst to the other. Or. Kyle's blood turned cold. "My mother might." Kyle's face looked haunted.

Cartman went to laugh but noted Kyle's serious expression. "You really think that fat bitch would go that far to hire a known hit man just to keep us from hanging out?"

Kyle didn't look at him. "She's been acting really fucking weird lately. I overheard my dad saying something to her the other night to see if she's been taking her meds right, plus her reactions to Ike's girlfriend and me bringing you over and even mentioning Stan lately has been really off. I couldn't say when she gets like this what she is and isn't capable of."

Cartman hated how worried Kyle looked especially over him, "Relax Kyle, I'm fine, just a tad sore, but thanks for stopping by."

Kyle reached for Cartman's hand and looked meaningfully at him, "Just take care of yourself. Are you comfortable staying here?"

Cartman swallowed hard, "For the most part, yeah. I'll be more alert now. I'll be expecting them per se."

His heart pounded quickly at the warm constant pressure of Kyle's hand on his. 'I wonder if he does this with Stan? I sure hope not.'

Cartman squeezed Kyle's hand lightly.

That was all the confirmation Kyle needed to wrap Cartman gently but firmly in a full on hug. Kyle went to pull away but Cartman held him back, "Stay with me tonight. I know I'm being selfish, but-"

"I'll try to tell mom I'm staying at Stan's since I have to go back and get clothes anyway, but no I'd be happy to stay with you if I can, somebody's got to make sure you lock your windows and doors thoroughly tonight." He joked.

"Oh and before I forget." Cartman released his possessive hug. "Take that gun and ammo from that dresser. Not the AK or the automatic though, the handgun will suit you more and have less of a kick if you need to fire multiple rounds."

Kyle's eyes widened. "You're giving me a gun?"

"I'm not giving you anything, Kyle. I'm loaning it to you, if you break it you buy it but my God you need some sort of protection if I can't be with you."

The worry for his safety made Kyle insanely happy.

He took the gun out and examined it intently. "I-really have no clue how to use this Cartman."

The larger boy could have face palmed. "It's a fucking gun Kyle! Have you not ever shot a gun with Stan's redneck ass Uncle Jimbo and his buttbuddy Ned?! For God's sakes. It's the same as a rifle as far as loading, cocking, and firing, just smaller and easy to conceal."

Kyle almost pinched his hand as the magazine popped out as he turned the gun over in his hands. He inserted it a few times until he got it right.

Cartman reached a hand over to take the gun from Kyle's hands, deciding instead to just guide Kyle's hands on the gun. Cartman winced slightly in pain as he twisted his shoulder wrong. "Okay, so you figured out the magazine part," he moved his hand over Kyle's hand moving his finger over the safety switch.

"Pay attention. This is the most important part. After you make sure your gun has ammo, flip the safety OFF and then cock and fire. Only shoot at someone if you intend to kill them. Don't have the fucking safety off if you're not about to shoot."

Kyle's face paled at the word kill, but he nodded in understanding. Cartman sighed in relief, "now I can worry about you a little less."

Kyle glanced at the time, "Shit I need to get going so that I'm home before my mom starts asking questions. Maybe I'll see you later tonight?"

Cartman nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

"Oh and Kyle for the record, I don't mind you calling me Eric whether it's through text or in person." He looked away "It has a nice ring when you say it."

Kyle's smile was unparalleled as he left Cartman's house.

A/N: I really don't know much about guns except that I've shot them, feel free to correct me if my information is off but it might be forever until I get around to correcting it. And in case you missed it there is some progress towards their eventual relationship here it's still building but I'll make sure it's worth the wait. Thanks to a buddy of mine Dark Noel this was edited and hopefully improved Aug. 24.


	15. Chapter 15

Kyle walked home quickly, hoping his mom would let him stay the night at Cartman's if he said he was staying at Stan's house instead. It was a weekday, but his mother made exceptions every now and then.

Before he opened the door he heard light talking, scarcely above a whisper, with no one replying. He silently pressed his ear against the door, trying to hear as much of the conversation as possible. It wasn't Ike speaking, no it was a woman's voice, most likely his mother.

"I'm telling you! I don't think your little warning will do any good. From my other source, my son was seen near his house today also." Sheila's voice had risen slightly making her a little easier to eavesdrop on.

Kyle was sweating. Yup, definitely his mom. 'What the literal fuck. Her other source? Warning? What was mom smoking?'

"No, you listen to me! I will deal with the rest of this situation on my own, Tenorman! I'll send your check you barely deserve in the mail. Do not call again!" The sound of the phone slamming down practically shook the whole house. Kyle acted quickly, straightening himself up outside of the door, deciding to wait a few moments before opening the door. 'Play it cool, Kyle' he told himself.

He opened the door, seeing his mom washing dishes in the kitchen while humming unusually loudly to herself.

"Hey mom." Kyle greeted nonchalantly. Inwardly, he was freaking out. His heart was pounding and he was having some trouble breathing. 'Oh God, am I having a fucking panic attack or something?' He swallowed hard.

She looked up absently, "Hello Kyle. Where have you been? Lovely weather isn't it?"

Kyle's vision began to blur until his phone's text tone beeped rather obnoxiously. He shook his head to read it as he noticed the sender: Cartman.

Kyle did you make it home okay?

He forced a neutral look. Yeah I made it. Why?

Someone was sneaking around outside my house. They scared the shit out of my mom when she went to get the mail. Ran off before I could get my AK.

Kyle's blood ran cold. Now everything was making sense but he really wished it wasn't. It was like he was in a bad horror movie and he was beyond ready to get out of it.

"I said where have you been Kyle? Or is texting more important?" His mother did not sound at all like she was in the mood for games today. He responded quickly.

"Just school Mom. By the way can I go to Stan's to spend the night?" She bit her lip looking like she was about to say no.

"I promise I'll take my insulin and we'll go to bed early, please mom?" Kyle put on his puppy dog pout even though he wanted nothing more than to grab his clothes bag and run away from here. He was even a little apprehensive about leaving poor Ike alone with her. She was freaking him out, hardcore.

Sheila bit her lip again, but spoke with authority, "You can always stay at Stan's, but I will be calling Sharon to make sure you are actually at Stan's."

Kyle figured he would figure his way around that minor detail, "Okay, Mom. Well, where else would I go?"

She gave him a hard look but said nothing, back to the dishwashing she went.

Kyle knocked on Ike's door almost desperately. His little brother answered it immediately. "Kyle what's wrong? Dude, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Kyle hesitated. How much should he tell Ike? Ike was only 11 which meant that him leaving the house on a school night was absolutely out of the question. He didn't want his brother in harm's way, but would he be putting him in more danger by filling him in? Why does life suck so much sometimes?

Kyle could only pray he was doing the right thing, "Someone hurt Cartman last night, so I'm going to go stay with him tonight. I want you to be very safe tonight as well Ike, lock your door and windows and don't open them for anyone until tomorrow morning."

Ike looked confused. "Not even mom or dad?"

"No, if it's past your bedtime just be quiet and pretend to be sleeping. They'll leave you alone if you don't answer long enough." Kyle was in no way concerned about his dad's motives in checking on Ike. But his mom? He shuddered inwardly.

Ike looked serious, "Be careful Kyle. Just be careful." He hugged his older brother tightly. "You too, Ike."

Kyle left Ike's room and grabbed his belongings. He texted Stan, Can you do me a solid?

Stan replied, I'm with Wendy right now. But what do you need?

I need you to get your mom to say I'm over there. Please can you do that for me?

Stan's face screwed up into a frown. "What's wrong babe?" Wendy asked.

"Not sure, sweetie. Something's going on with Kyle. He's wanting me to lie for him."

Wendy looked worried. She hugged him sideways. "Is that a good idea?"

Stan pursed his lips, "Probably not, but I kind of owe him, regardless of how sketchy he's been in some respects lately." He hadn't told Wendy that Kyle was gay and didn't plan on it. Though he and Wendy were extremely close, he deemed that Kyle would tell everyone when he was good and ready. Until then, it really wasn't hers or anyone else's business.

Sure man. What do you need me to do?

Get your mom to answer when mine calls and say I'm staying the night at your place tonight. Please. Kyle had no idea what he would do if Stan refused.

Ok consider it done. I hope you know what you're doing Kyle.

Stan quickly called his mom and got her to agree. Though she did ask for an explanation, Stan said that Kyle was going through some stuff and really needed to get away but that he was somewhere safe. Even though Stan could only speculate where he was going. 'What the hell? I'll just ask him.'

Where are you staying for real?

Kyle replied honestly. With Cartman. See you tomorrow.

Stan stared at the phone screen dumbfounded. Something was seriously amiss here. First, Kyle was all secretive. Then, he started secretly and not so secretly hanging out with Cartman. 'Weird as fuck.' Finally, he had come out to Stan as gay. 'Wait a damn minute! That was it! That was most likely Kyle's big secret! He was gay with Cartman, ewww.' Stan resisted the urge to vomit forgetting where he was for a split second.

Wendy tapped him on the arm. "Stan? You okay?"

He nodded, swallowing the bile down quickly. "Yeah Wends, I'm fine. Let's go catch the movie." He pulled her gently along.

"What do you mean you won't tail my son again?! What am I paying you for?" Mrs. Broflovski was once again irate and on the phone, giving the person on the other end an earful.

Bebe stuttered pitifully, "It's well past my school night curfew. And thanks for the money but I'm not sure if I can do this anymore. Eric Cartman has guns and probably other weapons. He's not afraid to use them either. Sorry, Mrs. Broflovski, but I can't tail for you anymore."

When Mrs. Broflovski hadn't responded for well over 5 minutes, Bebe interjected scaredly. "You can even keep the money if you want! I'm sorry I have to go." The line went dead.

Sheila rolled her tired bloodshot eyes as she set the phone down more calmly this time. "Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands." She said matter of factly.

Kyle jogged to Cartman's house looking around in front of, behind him, and even in some bushes to make sure he wasn't being followed. He knocked harshly on Cartman's door not having seen anyone the whole way over, but not trusting his vision at night.

Cartman opened the door soon after the knock. "Hey Jew, come on in."

He was walking really slowly but seemed to be getting around at least. The side of his face had turned a slight purplish color as had his chest from what Kyle saw of it thanks to his open pajama shirt. This caused Kyle to blush slightly.

"How long are you staying, a week?" Cartman laughed at Kyle's numerous bags.

"You wish fatass." Kyle retorted as the two made their way upstairs.

Cartman almost slipped on the way up the stairs but between catching himself on the banister and Kyle's soft, warm body his fall was broken. Kyle carefully helped support Cartman the rest of the way up the stairs. He felt Cartman's back against him as the two ascended the stairs. It felt strong and lightly muscled. 'Shit I've got it bad' Kyle thought to himself.

When Cartman finally got to his bed, he was breathing hard and his face was solidly flushed. "Eric? Are you okay?" Kyle leaned towards him after setting his bags down out of the way. He gasped, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just really out of breath. My chest still hurts from the other night. Falling out a window sucks huge balls."

Kyle nodded wanting to look at his injuries to make sure he was okay, but not wanting to overstep his boundaries. He swallowed his fears and spoke up anyway. "Can I see where you got hurt? I know a little bit medically and well, I just want to make sure nothing's serious."

Cartman normally would have told him he was fucking fine and didn't need pity, but whether it was the pain or the weird dynamic that had developed between he and Kyle he didn't object. He nodded.

Cartman unbuttoned his shirt all the way and shrugged it off. Kyle tried his best to focus on the injury which wasn't hard in that the whole left side of his chest was bruised darkly, but 'damn this was the first time he was seeing Cartman without a shirt on with no darkness since well at least 5 years.' He wasn't ripped, but Kyle didn't like that sort of body type anyway. He liked a little muscle, yes, but less definition was more to his liking. Screw it, Kyle thought. 'Cartman is just attractive to me.'

Kyle slowly traced his hand over the bruise putting light pressure down around bones and tendons to make sure nothing was out of place. He paused at the top of his chest and finally made eye contact with Cartman.

"Are you sure you're okay? Your heart is beating really fast."

Cartman's hazel eyes were locked onto Kyle's bright green ones, causing a spark that both had been feeling for the longest time to ignite full force. Cartman had never intended to pursue Kyle, but the warmth of Kyle's hand on him and the look in his eyes was just too much.

"That's um, not from the injury." He sat up and leaned closer to Kyle.

"What do you mean?" Kyle was genuinely confused.

"It's because you're touching me." Cartman confessed. Kyle wasn't sure if Cartman had leaned in further or if he himself had leaned in a bit. Their faces were inches apart. Kyle dropped his hand from Cartman's bare skin and let it hang forgotten as he focused on the brunette in front of him.

Cartman slowly, as if Kyle were some wild animal that he would spook if he moved too quickly, placed his hand on the back of Kyle's head. He wasn't pushing against Kyle or anything, just a light pressure. He spoke breathlessly. "If you want me to stop you better say something now or I'm going to kiss you."

A/N: Don't hate me! I could have finished the kiss scene I really could have but I plan to put the next chapter out soon so I figure a little cliffy won't kill you guys. Read and Review as always, until next time!


	16. Chapter 16

Kyle couldn't believe his good fortune. The guy he liked was telling him if he didn't want him to kiss him he needed to stop him. 'Good thing I don't want him to stop then.' However, Kyle's complete surprise kept him from saying anything in response to Cartman's statement.

Cartman leaned back from Kyle now, looking insecure. He looked away. "I get it. Sorry for well, that."

The larger boy tried to get up from the bed, incorrectly thinking the redhead was disgusted or was looking for a nice way to reject him.

"What? NO!" Kyle all but shouted as he yanked Cartman's chubby arm pulling him to sit back down on the bed where he had been.

"Cartman look at me." Kyle instructed.

Nothing.

"Eric, look at me." Kyle pleaded.

Cartman turned fearful hazel eyes towards Kyle and faced him fully. Though the vulnerability was rather sad to see, Kyle thought Cartman looked gorgeous at the same time.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I, well." Kyle rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Let me just show you so this isn't more awkward than it has to be."

Kyle was now the initiator as he pulled Cartman into a tight hug and pressed his lips gently to Cartman's, only applying a slight pressure. Cartman gasped at the sensation, feeling his heart burst with joy. He began to kiss back, his insecurities fading away as Kyle returned the kiss with equal fervor as he felt his own insides turn into mush. The foreign feeling he had been feeling for a while had not faded it had only intensified.

When the two had to separate for air, Cartman grabbed Kyle by the hand and pulled him flush to his still bare chest just enjoying holding the smaller boy. He sighed happily.

"So what did you think?" Kyle asked awkwardly. 'I hope he felt that same spark I did. That was amazing. Who knew a kiss could be that great?'

Cartman hugged Kyle tighter if at all possible. 'It was fucking perfect. Just like you are.' "It was…great." Cartman said after searching for a word that was the right middle ground between unimpressed and sappy.

Kyle smiled widely while nodding. "It was pretty great wasn't it?" He leaned his head up to kiss Cartman on the cheek quickly, causing the other boy to blush crimson.

"This is so gay." Cartman complained without releasing his hold on Kyle.

Kyle laughed clearly amused by the irony in Cartman's statement. "Let's put on a movie. I pick The Day After Tomorrow."

"Who said you could pick the movie Jew?" Cartman asked only slightly annoyed but he got up and put Kyle's choice of movie in the DVD player without another comment.

When Cartman came back he didn't snuggle back up to Kyle but laid close beside him as he turned on the lamp and reclined on the pillow to begin the film. Kyle was about to comment on this when he felt a steady warmth come over his hand. Cartman was holding his hand, albeit without looking at Kyle at all, but holding his hand nevertheless. The two enjoyed the movie in companionable silence for the most part only speaking at parts where the characters were being morons or when something super cool happened onscreen.

Cartman kept yawning throughout the movie and when it was over quickly turned the TV off with his remote and flipped the lamp off.

Kyle wasn't sure if he was already asleep but decided he would ask the question on his mind anyway. 'If he doesn't answer I can always just ask him again tomorrow.'

"So, what does this make us?" Kyle felt nervous asking but judging how Cartman had yet to let go of his hand this was probably not just a one time fling. The blood rushed to his face.

Cartman turned sideways carefully so as not to hurt his side further and whispered in Kyle's ear while his hand touched the side of Kyle's face. "What do you want this to make us?"

Kyle sputtered. 'Why is he making this so fucking difficult?' Kyle decided to try a different tactic. "Well I guess it just makes us friends who have kissed. So we are both free to do what we wish with other people.." Just the thought of doing any of this: the gentle holding, the arguing, the kissing, with anyone besides Cartman caused a sharp pain in Kyle's chest, but he figured the easiest way to make his point was to be direct.

"The fuck you say!" Cartman had raised his voice releasing his hold on Kyle. "You are not free to do what you want with someone else, Jew! You're exclusively MY boyfriend and anyone who doesn't like that can go fuck themselves."

Kyle smiled in the dark, running his hand up and down Cartman's arm as he pulled him close to him. He then said jokingly, "What if I'm the one who doesn't like it?" He quickly laughed and kissed Cartman full on the mouth but this time was different. Kyle began to lick Cartman's lips experimentally wondering how he would respond to French kissing. Cartman moaned and opened his mouth while their tongues fought for dominance. Kyle felt his erection growing as he got more and more involved in the kiss. Cartman was running his hands through Kyle's hair as Kyle began rubbing his hands up and down Cartman's chest. Cartman flipped Kyle over where he was on top of him as he turned on the lamp.

Kyle responded to the sparkling in Cartman's eyes by saying boldly, "I'd love to be your boyfriend Cartman. And the same goes for you. You're my boyfriend and no one else can have you. Although there are still some things we have to sort out, namely my mother's issues and coming out to our friends and family."

"Let's not worry about all of that heavy shit right now. Not to discount what you're saying Jew, though." Cartman then attacked Kyle's mouth again as the two rolled around on Cartman's bed, both sporting erections by the end of the heated makeout session. Kyle genuinely wouldn't have minded going further but when Cartman turned the lamp off again and pulled Kyle up to his chest, he couldn't deny it was irresistibly sweet for Cartman not to try anything too sexual. 'My hormones really need to chill out.' Kyle reprimanded himself. He wasn't an overly sexual person to begin with but just the sheer fact that he would have been okay with second base or possibly even going all the way right when they became official scared him. 'Slow is good.'

"Goodnight Kyle." He whispered as he snuggled against the redhead.

"Goodnight Eric."

Cartman kissed him a final time on the lips before the two fell into the best sleep either one had gotten in a while.

A/N: I know this was really sweet and short, but I didn't want to post it with the other one and I didn't want anyone's [Cough cough Sheila] drama ruining the special Kyman love right here. The story is far from over so there'll be plenty of time for that later on. Feel free to share if you loved it or hated it.


	17. Chapter 17

The next morning was pretty odd. Cartman didn't say much to Kyle about the night before but the smile he gave him before getting up to shower said it all. 'I'm so lucky.'

Kyle was reclining on Cartman's bed, lazily checking his phone when an incoming call shocked him out of his restful happy thoughts. 'Mom? But she knows, er, thinks I went to Stan's.' There was still over an hour before school started but it was unlike his mom to call when he was spending the night off from home this early. He hadn't forgotten anything either, i.e. his insulin, toothbrush, or change of clothes.

He decided to answer the call. "Hey mom."

"What am I doing? Just chilling with Stan about to start getting ready for school. How come?" Kyle absolutely despised lying but after overhearing his mom's conversations and the recent events he had decided it was the right thing to do in this particular situation no matter how hard that was to accept.

"Okay. What do you need to talk to me about?"

"Cartman. You will be home right after school to discuss this. And don't even consider lying to me." Sheila hung up as Kyle all but shook with fear. The tone of her voice told him she meant business and that he was an idiot if he went over to his house without a friend as backup. Kyle wasn't a pushover but his mom was quite a bit bigger than him and could easily hurt him if she wanted to, not that she ever had before though.

Kyle was still looking off into space when Cartman came out of the bathroom fully dressed. "Your turn." He nudged the redhead playfully.

"What's wrong?" Cartman prodded.

Kyle tried not to sound as worried as he felt. "My mom wants me to come home to talk to her right after school and she said it was about you."

Cartman looked confused. "That's weird. Well you're definitely not going over there alone. No telling what that crazy bitch will do if no one is with you."

Kyle looked at Cartman barely believing what he was hearing. 'Am I dreaming? Is he about to offer to come with me?'

"Don't look at me like that Jew! Duh, I'm coming with you. Hey and for all we know she has finally realized the error of her ways and how awesome I am and will welcome you and I both with open arms." Cartman grinned.

Kyle shook his head. "I doubt it. But let's just wait and see."

Kyle showered and he and Cartman rode in Cartman's car to school. He glanced at the redhead out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help the goofy smile that crossed his face. The two had agreed to keep their relationship low key at school especially and only to tell people as it became absolutely necessary to do so. Against Cartman's better judgment, he had agreed to allow Stan to be the first person Kyle officially told.

Though there were other gay couples in South Park, that didn't mean there were no homophobes or that the openly gay students didn't get some flak every once in a while. Granted, most of the insults and issues that arose were verbal but there were acts of violence every once in a while.

As soon as the bell rang signaling lunch, Stan grabbed Kyle's arm and literally dragged him into a secluded corner of the library. Not much of anyone came in the library period, especially not during lunch. In fact, the only other people in the library were the regulars. The librarian Mr. Blackaby had his head tilted to the side as he read a well worn copy of a Shakespeare play compilation. He was hard of hearing and even if he wasn't he was known to completely zone out and ignore everything around him while reading. He wouldn't bother the two boys whatsoever.

The only other people in the library were Tweak and Craig who were sitting together at a table near the front of the library. Craig was staring at Tweak in a way that would have looked creepy to anyone else but a look that Tweak blushed lightly from and smiled at his boyfriend over the top of the novel he was reading. Tweak and Craig were complete opposites but that was okay. Tweak had to be actively doing something or he would shake and become too nervous to function while Craig was more of an observer whose favorite thing to observe was the smaller blonde. They were an odd pair, but a sweet one nonetheless.

As Stan dragged Kyle past their table, he couldn't help but notice the subtleties in the way the two looked at each other that before he would have missed. 'Imagine that.' He thought.

Stan sat down first crossing his hands underneath his chin, looking almost angry. "Okay start talking. I know about Cartman."

Kyle sighed and pulled out a chair sitting right beside Stan. "Keep your voice down. This is a library after all."

Stan bit his lip and continued in a quieter voice. "I'm not repeating myself again."

"What are you talking about? What do you know about Cartman?" Kyle decided to play innocent.

Stan shook his head. "I know you're gay for Cartman." Kyle's face instantly turned red completely of its own volition.

He said nothing in response.

"Ah ha! I knew it. Your blushing face tells me everything. But ewww, why exactly?" Stan liked Cartman as a friend but couldn't for the life of him understand why anyone let alone Kyle would find him attractive.

"I told you before." Kyle began embarrassed. "All that stuff I said I liked about a girl was actually about Cartman. He can be really kind when he wants to be too, but the tension between us keeps things interesting."

Stan swallowed the bile down. "NO! Sorry, I mean that's okay. I just don't need to know what you guys do in the bedroom or anything like that. But I'm happy for you I guess, no I am. It's just going to take some getting used to dude." Stan said clearly uncomfortable with the fact that it was indeed Cartman who Kyle was interested in.

Kyle sighed. "It's such a relief to get that off my chest. I'm so glad you know now and that you figured it out on your own."

Stan grinned, "But why'd you keep it a secret? You should know you can trust me your super awesome super best friend with anything."

Kyle leaned his head against his arm. "I know. But I-I really didn't know exactly what my feelings were and with my mom acting weird and everything that was going on in your life too I guess I just didn't want to burden you."

Stan slapped him on the back. "I don't ever want you to feel like that. But I'm just glad I'm the first to know and I promise your secret is 100% safe with me."

Kyle looked sheepish. "Wait, I am the first to know right?"

"Um, actually you're the third."

"What." Stan said blankly. "Well, who the hell are the other two?!"

"The first one's Ike." Stan began to fume. "But he really just guessed and somehow happened to be right."

Stan calmed down. "Okay, that's your brother, fine that's understandable. What about the other person?"

"Well, the other person is Cartman."

Stan gaped. "You told him?! Oh God. How did that turn out?"

"Well, we're dating now." Kyle's face turned red again.

"Oh my God! That is huge!" Kyle slapped his hand over Stan's mouth.

"Stan shut up! I don't want the whole library to know what we're talking about."

"Oh really? All three people here are really going to get that gossip mill churning." He responded sarcastically.

When Kyle was sure Stan was capable of being quieter he continued. "It's really hush hush and you're the first one to officially find out, yes even before Ike so you should feel special about that at least."

Stan hugged Kyle. "Awww wittle Kyle is growing up! Even if it's with Cartman. Oh well fuck normalcy right? It's South Park anyway."

Kyle hugged him back before they got up to head to lunch. "Thanks for being so cool about this. Seriously, I owe you one."

"Don't worry about it! You were always there for me when Wendy and I broke up for the thousandth time so let's just say I'm returning the favor."

Lunch was about as normal as it got. Cartman sat in his usual spot across from Kyle. Stan sat beside Kyle and Kenny sat across from Stan. They didn't even really act like anything was different between them but Stan at least noticed the sidelong glances his two friends would throw each other. 'Things have definitely changed.'

After school Kenny invited everyone over to his place for a change, he had just gotten his first real paycheck from his job and was just looking to have a chill night. Stan happily agreed but Kyle and Cartman said they had business to take care of which was received with an understanding nod from Stan and a knowing look from Kenny.

"Don't have too much fun guys!" Kenny called.

Cartman gave Kenny the finger as he and Kyle walked to their car.

"Ah, young love. Ain't it grand?" Kenny asked Stan as they walked to Stan's so he could pick up a change of clothes and his overnight stuff.

Stan froze. Had he been too obvious somehow?

Kenny laughed. "Relax! I knew long before those two even did. I'm a big people watcher I guess. I just pick up on things like that."

"Is my sister coming?" Stan asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, she just texted me but she has to work so she'll be over later. She's great dude. I swear—"

"Kenny, don't take this the wrong way but just know I'm happy for you both and I don't need the details." For some reason anything to do with his sister made him even more uncomfortable than the thought of Cartman and Kyle doing anything sexual and that made him pretty fucking uncomfortable.

Kenny grinned. "Alright alright! Just bragging on my girl, damn." The two friends walked back to Kenny's in companionable silence.

Kyle took a deep breath before opening the door to his house. 'This is so fucking stupid. Why am I nervous about coming home to my own house? Oh that's right because my mom is a psychotic bitch. Great.'

"Mom, hey. I'm here and um well I brought a friend."

Cartman shifted uncomfortably beside Kyle as the two walked into the Broflovski's kitchen.

Sheila walked around the corner and her expression turned venomous when she saw her son's companion.

"Kyle what is he doing here?"

"I figured if we were talking about him, he should at least have a chance at being involved in the conversation." Kyle replied smartly.

Sheila began coldly. "Bebe Stevens informed me that the two of you were quite familiar at a party recently."

Kyle opened his mouth to defend himself.

"I don't care that you went to a party. I care that you were hanging all over the likes of him! What's wrong with you Kyle? Do you want to bring disgrace on this family? It's bad enough you're friends with him, but to be interested in someone like that, to be a faggot, something's badly wrong with you." She stood up.

"Mom! Look, I know you want the best for me and this is probably a terrible time to say this, but yes, I'm gay. Yes," He grabbed Cartman's arm who looked like the nervous wreck Kyle felt. "This is my boyfriend and he makes me happy. And no, I don't want to be a lawyer. I think that pretty much covers it."

A crazed look came across the woman's face. She turned her full attention to Cartman. "You've brainwashed my son. My perfect son. You've broken him, no ruined him."

"He didn't ruin me!" Kyle stood in front of Cartman. "This is me! I have never liked girls, not really. I just tried so you wouldn't be disappointed in me." He looked down, then looked at his mother's burning gaze with a determination of his own. "This is who I am, who I have always been. I just finally found the courage to tell you and stand up for myself."

Sheila clenched and unclenched her fist as she reached into her jacket pocket, not acknowledging anything Kyle had said locking her hate filled gaze onto Cartman.. "And now, you are going to pay the price."

The woman pulled out a small revolver and pointed it straight at Cartman.

A/N: Let me know what you think! Sorry it took a while getting this out, but yeah, cliffy. Love you guys!


	18. Chapter 18

Sheila Broflovski continued to point the gun at Cartman though her hands shook and sweat was dripping down her angry expression didn't waver in the least.

"Kyle step away from him so you don't get hurt."

"Mom! You can't. You're not really going to-. How is this happening?" Kyle was panicking. His mother was holding his boyfriend at gunpoint. His dad was probably still at work. Ike was God only knows where. He had to try and talk her out of it.

Kyle took a deep breath and looked at Cartman making sure not to move away from him in hopes his mom wouldn't shoot if he stayed close. "Let's just talk about this. Put the gun down." Cartman attempted to reason with her despite the fact he was freaking out also.

She shook her head. "It's too late to talk things out. What's done is done and I have to do what I have to do to set things right."

Kyle stuttered, "B-b-but this won't make anything right! If you shoot him, you'll go to prison! You can't change me either way! This is just the way I am."

A look of realization crossed Sheila's face as she saw how close her son was standing to her target. She would have to trick Kyle into stepping far enough away from him so that there was no way she would hit her son.

She turned the gun on herself. "You're right. I'll just have to kill myself so I won't be around to see it." She said solemnly.

Cartman realized a moment too late what the crazy woman was doing. She cocked the gun and acted like she was going to pull the trigger on herself.

Kyle ran a few steps towards his mom, thinking she was genuinely about to end her life. 'I can't let this happen either.' That was all the distance she needed before she spun the gun around and pulled the trigger on Cartman.

Kyle turned around in horror at what had just transpired. Sheila screamed at her handiwork dropping the gun and sinking to the floor.

Cartman was lying on the ground bleeding heavily from his chest area. "No-" Kyle rushed over towards him.

"Eric-Eric, listen to me."

The boy's eyes were slightly glazed over as he coughed weakly. He said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Kyle, get away from her. I-" He coughed again, closing his eyes as Kyle dialed 911, trying to keep an eye on his mother and Cartman at the same time.

He relayed the situation and the address and hung up by the time Cartman spoke again.

He grabbed Kyle's jacket with a surprising amount of strength. His gorgeous brown eyes locked with Kyle's iridescent green ones intimately. "I love you." And Eric Cartman lost consciousness.

Kyle had a hard time remembering the sequence of events the rest of the day. The ambulance personnel came and took Cartman away shaking their heads as they rushed to try and stabilize his condition. Kyle begged to be taken on the ambulance with him but was turned away due to the seriousness of his condition. Stan came over at some point, trying to comfort the zombified Kyle as Kyle's dad drove

Stan and Kyle to the hospital before going to pick up Ike who had been at an after school math meeting fortunately. Sheila Broflovski was arrested on the scene and questioned later at the local jailhouse before being booked.

"Kyle, bro please at least look at me." Stan tried desperately to get Kyle's attention to focus anywhere but on Cartman and the tragic events that had unfolded. 'Yeah no easy feat.'

He waved a hand once again in front of Kyle's face unsuccessfully before pulling him into a hug. "I'm here for you man and trust me Cartman will pull through."

Kyle spoke the first words Stan had heard him say since the accident. "He told me he loved me, Stan."

Stan was thunderstruck. "He- dude."

"Before I could say anything back, he passed out. What if-" Kyle covered his face trying to hide the fact that he was on the verge of tears.

"The doctors are doing everything they can, trust me. All we can do is wait."

"They've had him back there for going on 2 hours." Kyle said flatly. "And from my knowledge of the profession that can go either way."

Stan looked sympathetically at his best friend. 'We really are fucked this time. Poor Kyle. Poor Cartman.'

Cartman's mom was sitting far enough away from Kyle and Stan that she couldn't overhear any of the conversation. She looked as distraught as Kyle. Her well-applied makeup had long since smeared and ran down her face where it was now a caked mess. Her normally pretty brown eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying and she continuously dabbed her eyes and nose with a handkerchief.

A few doctors came out of the operating room door and made a beeline for her. When she realized what was happening, she stood up expectantly.

"Liane Cartman. I have news about your son."

Kyle moved as close as he dared in order to overhear as much of the conversation as he could.

"What is it doctor?" Liane dreaded the news, but she would have to find out sooner or later. Now she had to be strong for her son.

"Your son is still in critical condition. He was extremely lucky that the bullet missed his heart or he would be dead right now. As it stands right now, he's breathing on his own but we are closely monitoring him for the time being."

Liane let out a small relieved breath. "So he's going to be alright, then?"

The female doctor hesitantly glanced at the one who had been doing the talking before.

"Mrs. Cartman you have to understand, your son was shot through the chest, major arteries were severed. He lost a lot of blood."

"What are they saying?" Stan asked quietly.

Kyle shook his head. "Not quite sure yet." He motioned for Stan to remain silent.

"But what you said earlier made it seem like he would recover. What exactly are you saying?"

The doctor cleared his throat looking uncomfortable. "I'm saying it depends entirely on him. We've done our part. But I wouldn't get my hopes up ma'am." The second doctor looked extremely apologetic.

"Can't you do a blood transfusion? Are you not fucking doctors? Can't you imbeciles do something?!" She raised her voice, losing all awareness of where she was and the fact she wasn't speaking in an appropriate manner. Her voice broke slightly.

"We're trying to locate someone with the same blood type as him. It's a fairly rare one as you're probably aware."

Mrs. Cartman bit her lip as she murmured. "And I'm not a match. I can't even help my baby." She covered her face and sobbed quietly. "Can I at least see him?" The doctor nodded.

Kyle looked horrified as he turned to Stan. "Did you hear the way they talked to her? Did you hear what they said?!"

Stan shook his head. "Your hearing is way better than mine. I didn't hear much other than when she started yelling."

"He needs a blood transfusion and they're looking for a match." Kyle stood up.

Stan looked questioningly at his friend. "Where are you going?"

Kyle laughed in a crazed way. "To talk to that doctor. Or have you forgotten? I'm the same blood type as him. I'm the only match in this town." He barely caught the doctor before he and Mrs. Cartman walked through the double doors.

"You can't be back here, kid." He said as he gestured for Kyle to go away.

Liane smiled weakly at Kyle.

"I overheard your conversation and I'm a match. I'll donate my blood." 

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "I'm not supposed to use a donor that's under 18 and under 110 pounds. We'll have to find another one."

Kyle was desperate now. "There's not one. I-Look. I consent to it. It's my fault this happened to him, well mostly anyway. If it could help, I'll do it."

The doctor was going to respond with his normal 'against his code of ethics response' but the way Kyle spoke arrested him. 'This kid is really serious about his friend. What the hell I'm retiring soon anyway.'

"I'll let his mother see him and then we'll get you ready for the procedure if you're still up to it."

Kyle nodded. "I'm sure."

The process was painless for the most part. The most painful part about it was that the doctor still wouldn't let him see Cartman. Liane probably would have pushed for Kyle to be given visiting rights if it wasn't for the fact that seeing her son in such a fragile condition caused her to become nearly catatonic as she alternated between sobbing and staring off into space in the waiting room. She was inconsolable.

Kyle walked back into the waiting room to rejoin Stan looking a bit melancholy. "How was it?" The dark haired boy asked.

"It wasn't bad. But I still didn't get to see him. What if he still dies, even after all this without me getting to give him my response?"

Stan said nothing even though the redhead was in obvious pain. 'Maybe he needs to get this out of his system. I'll just be his listener this time.'

Kyle turned to Stan somberly. "I love him, Stan. I really really do. And maybe in a way, I always have. At first, I thought it was just a phase and then when I realized it wasn't-I just, I thought he didn't feel the same way. I thought he could never feel the same way. But then when he became concerned about me when I was ill, I figured maybe we could at least be friends. And well, now I can't imagine my life without him. This sounds dumb as hell to you I'm sure."

Stan shook his head feeling ashamed. 'To think not long ago I thought you and him were the worst possible couple.' "It doesn't sound dumb. You both need each other. Kenny was talking about something like this ages ago. How even though you hate his insults and he loves pissing you off that you both were two sides to the same coin and that without one, the other would be incomplete. And I'm sure you'll get to tell him. He needs us now more than ever to have faith in him, you especially as his boyfriend. Don't give up on him Kyle."

A/N: *Dodges flying objects* So….that happened. Yeah. Read and review. And try not to freak out too much.


	19. Chapter 19

Stan sat with Kyle a little longer. He stifled a yawn. The dark haired boy knew how important it was now to be there for his best friend, but God he was exhausted.

Liane had gone back into the room after the transfusion and had yet to come back out. 'I really want to leave but I'll at least wait until she comes back out.'

Stan's phone rang shrilly causing both he and Kyle to jump. "Sorry," Stan said instantly as he walked outside to talk more freely without getting dirty looks.

"Stan?! Are you okay?! I heard about Sheila and everything. How's Kyle holding up?" Randy was freaking out almost as if Stan had been the one injured.

"I'm fine Dad. And he's doing about as well as can be expected."

Randy sighed. "I know you really want to be there for your friend, but your mother and I talked it over and think you need to come home tonight. Of course, tell Kyle and Ike they are welcome to come as well, but I know he's in a dark place right now, so make sure you don't pressure him into it or anything."

Stan's dad rambled on. "I'll come home soon Dad and I'll be sure to relay the message. And, thanks it means a lot."

They disconnected.

When Stan walked back into the waiting room, he noticed Kyle and Liane speaking but couldn't make out much of what they were saying.

He sat down, deciding to wait for Kyle to finish and give the redhead some privacy.

"Thank you so much for what you did, Kyle." Liane sniffed slightly, her eyes still red and puffy.

Kyle shook his head quickly. "Don't thank me. It's the least I can do to thank him for what he did. I'm" Kyle looked down ashamed. "I'm the reason he's lying in the hospital bed. If it wasn't for me wanting him to go with me to confront my mother, he wouldn't be hurt. I'm sorry Mrs. Cartman. I'm so sorry." Kyle briefly made eye contact, preparing for the worst reaction possible. Mrs. Cartman was a single mother and Eric was her only child. Though she had issues, she loved her only son more than anything and Kyle knew this.

Kyle opened his mouth again to continue his apology, thinking her silence was a sign of deep seated anger when he was pulled into a tight hug.

"Don't you dare blame yourself for this sweetie. My little Eric was protecting you. He cares deeply about you. It's neither one of your faults that he got hurt. I promise, I'm not angry at you at all."

Liane released her hug and patted Kyle on the shoulder. "You're a great kid. I'm sorry you had to see that happen."

The two sat in silence for a bit.

"Would it be alright if I got to see Eric for a bit?" Kyle asked carefully.

Liane nodded. "Go ahead. I already granted you permission earlier, the doctors must have just forgotten."

Kyle was surprised. "But why? I mean, not to sound rude or ungrateful or anything."

She smiled slightly. "He would want you back there. And he would be pissed if I or anyone else stood in the way of that. Would you mind telling me what the confrontation was about though? Then you can go on and see him."

Kyle froze physically and mentally. 'What the fuck was he supposed to say to this? Well, Mrs. Cartman your son and I are gay together and well, we came out to my mom and I told her I wanted nothing to do with her picture perfect idea of what I was supposed to be? Yeah right.'

"Um, I told my mom I wasn't going to be the person she wanted me to be." 'Vague, like a boss. Smooth move, Kyle, NOT.'

Liane didn't look convinced. She tilted her head similar to Cartman when he was scheming in an 'I know something you don't know I know' way. "Is that so? Well, we can discuss the rest later. Go see him." She smiled lightly.

He blanched. "Okay." Kyle walked towards Stan who was motioning him over.

"I'm about to head home, dude. Are you going to be okay here or do you and Ike want to stay with us tonight?"

Kyle sighed. "I'm about to go see Cartman and Ike told me he's staying at Filmore's for the night with Dad's permission, so I'm not sure yet. I'll text you though okay?"

Stan pulled him into a hug. "Sure thing. Take care of yourself."

Kyle took a deep breath before going through the dreaded ICU double doors. He hated hospitals in general but it was even worse when he knew someone he loved was in one and not for anything minor either.

Cartman looked pitiful lying on the hospital bed. His skin was slightly pale and his torso was heavily bandaged. Kyle gently sat beside him on the bed, careful not to disturb any of the monitors attached to him. He gently took his hand in his own. "Hey Eric." He began awkwardly.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but please wake up. I miss you and I have something really important to tell you." He squeezed his hand tightly. "Your mom and I we need you to wake up. Please." Kyle's voice choked at the end and he resisted the urge to break down crying.

Kyle gently ran a hand across Cartman's face, he leaned in to kiss him on the cheek and was thoroughly stunned when a hand was behind his head pulling him to connect with Cartman's lips.

"Eric?! Thank God you're okay!" Kyle said while he was kissing him. Cartman grinned after kissing him again, wincing at the pain in his chest.

"Of course I'm okay. I'm glad to see you're all in one piece too, Jew. Figured you would do something hella stupid but good thing I was wrong this once."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Shut up. I should probably go get your mom." Kyle moved to stand up.

"Wait," Cartman's eyes glinted conspiratorily, "what was it you wanted to tell me that was so important?"

Kyle reddened. "You heard that? It can wait until, later."

Cartman looked irritated, "No it can not. You will tell me now or I'll break up with you." The threat was so empty that the two burst into laughter right afterwards.

"Fine you know that's a lie. But seriously. I want to know." Cartman said softly staring into Kyle's green eyes intently.

"Okay," Kyle said nervously. 'Why am I nervous?! He confessed his love to me already, hopefully he remembers that. How stupid am I? Why wouldn't he remember? It's not like he got a head injury or anything.'

"Do you remember what you said to me before you passed out?"

Cartman blushed. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell. Sorry." But the blush had not gone unnoticed by his boyfriend nor had the quick pattern of speech gone undetected.

Kyle smiled. "I was just going to tell you, the feeling is mutual."

"What feeling are you talking about?" Cartman was still trying to play dumb.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "I love you too, you idiot." He kissed Cartman firmly on the lips.

Cartman's face was completely red now. "…well that sure escalated quickly."

Kyle very lightly bumped his shoulder on his uninjured side. "Glad that's out of the way. Shit was getting awkward."

"Hold my hand Kyle." Cartman whined.

Kyle faked an annoyed look but complied. "You know it seems as if everything has changed, but that not much has changed at the same time. That probably makes no type of sense so don't laugh at me."

Cartman grinned, "No you're right actually. Professing our love to each other was gay as fuck, but it just feels right. Just don't get used to me agreeing with you Kyle."

"Don't worry, I won't. Arguing with you is part of the fun." He winked at the larger boy.

"I'll go get your mom now, she'll be happy to see you're awake."

Cartman was reluctant for Kyle to leave. "See you later?"

"Definitely." Kyle leaned in and kissed him again, more passionately this time.

A/N: Hope no one got too freaked out. I could never kill off a main character. I feel like that kind of ruins the whole point of all the conflict and just makes it overall too angsty. Guess, I made up for the angst last chapter with teh fluff. Least of all I couldn't kill off Cartman. (is in emotional pain just thinking about it). Read and review!


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Sorry for the wait guys! I was going through some personal issues and whatnot but here's the next chapter!

Kyle released a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding as he exited the hospital room. 'He's going to be okay. He's actually going to be okay.' He had been petrified, absolutely petrified that he would lose him. He shuddered physically at the mere thought. Kyle's dad was waiting for him in the waiting room. It appeared that Gerald was currently engaged in conversation with Miss Cartman but he waved Kyle over anyway.

She greeted Kyle with a tight hug. "Thank you," she whispered.

Kyle smiled at the woman. He couldn't help but think she wasn't only thanking him for donating his blood but for something far deeper, not that he would bring any of that up in front of his dad.

"Goodnight, Liane, thanks for keeping an eye on my son. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other in the future. Right now my son and I need to figure some things out." He nodded to her as he motioned for Kyle to follow him.

The redhead didn't say a word until they were safely seated in his dad's plain black work car.

"What's going to happen now?" Kyle said, sounding a lot stronger than he felt. He was completely exhausted. Your crazy mother shooting your boyfriend didn't exactly make for a relaxing day.

Gerald sighed as he started the car. "I'm not going to lie to you Kyle. You're growing up, hell, your actions lately show you are grown up, maturity wise at least. But a lot of things are going to be changing around here."

Kyle didn't say anything, waiting for his father to continue while basking in the pride he felt that his dad had recognized his maturing.

It was now or never Kyle decided. And now with the adrenaline still fresh and with the rest of the day's events, Kyle knew there wouldn't be another more appropriate time.

"Dad, before you continue, I have something to say."

"Go ahead, son."

"Well, what happened with mom, something kind of happened to set her off, big time. But I fear you may hate me for it as well." Kyle ran his hand nervously through his hair. No matter what he was going to continue though. This was one secret he had lived with for far too long.

Gerald laughed shortly. "Unfortunately, I cannot speak for your mother, but I could never hate you or Ike, Kyle, no matter what you tell me."

Kyle gulped. 'No pressure.' "I told mom I was gay and that I had no intention of becoming a lawyer." 'And there it is, out in the fucking open for his dad to see and say whatever he would.'

Gerald pulled into the driveway before saying anything further. "Get out of the car son."

Kyle was shaking again. 'Can today just end before I have a total mental breakdown?!'

He did as his father told him too as Gerald also stepped out of the car. In seconds, his father was hugging him tightly. "I already knew both of those things. You're dating the Cartman boy am I right? And it really didn't take much analysis to figure out you had no interest in law."

Kyle's eyes widened. "What?! How?! I-I can explain-"

"There's no need to. But I rest my case, there is nothing you could tell me that would make me hate you. Now come on, I told Ike to grab takeout for us."

And other than normal dinner table conversation that was it. Kyle's dad was officially the fucking best dad in the world. He had taken the news almost as if Kyle had told him about the weather.

The three ate the meal in a relatively lighthearted conversation. After the meal, Gerald pushed his chair slightly back from the table and donned a serious expression. "I was going to wait to discuss this later, but seeing as I believe you two are more than capable of having this conversation now, the sooner the better."

Ike and Kyle both stared expectantly at their father.

"First, I never want either one of you to be afraid to be honest with me, Kyle I've already talked to you about this one on one but that goes for you too Ike. When people hide things that are such an integral part of themselves, it hurts them and separates them from those who love them and want to help them. I'm already very proud of the both of you, so keep up the good work. Secondly, on a not so positive note, your mother. As it stands now, she committed a very serious crime. One that she is facing jail time for regardless of whether she has a good lawyer or not. Her sentence could be drastically shortened depending on the quality of the lawyer. That being said, I personally have decided not to represent her or offer her legal advice whatsoever. I still love your mother, but I firmly believe she should be punished for her crime. She is currently undergoing a psychological evaluation as well, so pending those results she will not be allowed into the public under any circumstances."

Ike spoke first, "Are you getting a divorce?" His eyes held a mixture of many emotions, but sadness was the greatest of them.

Gerald pursed his lips. "I don't know, Ike. This is a very complicated situation and I wanted to give you both time to provide your input, don't worry I'm not asking you to tell me tonight, but I would understand if Kyle or you would feel unsafe living with her."

"I don't want her to stay in jail longer than she has to." Kyle said thickly. "Yes, she committed a serious crime, no I don't trust her, but she is a part of this family. I'll need more time to decide about living with her though. That's my two cents."

Gerald nodded, appreciatively. "Alright, I'll give you both time to make a decision, no rush. You both are very mature, intelligent young men. You'll make the right choice."

"But doesn't your opinion matter too dad?" Ike questioned still not really too sure about any of this.

"Yes, indeed it does, but I think you two's thoughts matter equally if not more so, that's why I'm leaving the final decision up to the both of you."

"That's enough heavy conversation for one night, let's go to bed." He bid them both goodnight and hugged them as the three went to their respective rooms.

Tomorrow would bring its own challenges but for today, things were beginning to settle down some.

A/N: I know no Cartman this chapter but he'll be back next time! Review please.


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